Romano's big little secret
by achilles1371
Summary: Everyone has secrets, some are big and some are small. You technically are not human if you don't have one at some point in your life and ex-Bad Boy of the Vatican Lovino Vargas is no exception. Meet Christina Vargas, she turns 17 when this story begins and this is no ordinary 17thm not when Hetalia countries are involved. rating will go up as story continues.
1. Chapter 1

My name is Christina Vargas.

I woke up when a solitary beam of light sprang through the curtains, it does that, .Morning, I find it somewhat annoying, but at least it gets me up. Well, today is supposed to be a good day, well at least that's what I keep telling myself. In my true opinion I honestly don't care that much about today, it's only my 17th birthday. I managed to roll myself out of bed and land face first onto the floor, ow. After getting myself on my feet I stumbled my way over to my bathroom, opening the door and turning the light on. I blinked sleepily in the mirror looking at myself. I don't really like describing myself but I will have a go at it. As I said, today I am 17; I have dark brown hair that goes down my back, about a quarter ways down. Most of the time I have that in a ponytail that I never braid, I just don't like the look of it. I have a nice figure, though I don't care for it much, I never get fat, but that is because I always take a morning run- Speaking of my hair, I noticed something new about it. A large curl stuck out the side of my head; it looked somewhat goofy and didn't go well with the bangs over my right eye. I reached a hand up to it and gave it a sharp tug, that didn't go so well, I felt a surge of heat in me and left me rather flustered. I would definitely NOT be trying to get rid of it again today; maybe mom knows what it's about.

I love my mom, she is so sweet and caring but isn't overprotective; she has seen me through thick and thin and isn't too concerned with my morning runs. You see, I live in Florence, in Italy and I just love the renaissance architecture here, but back to the subject. My morning runs aren't dangerous; at least that is what I say. They consist of a few kilometre run across the tiled rooftops, it is great fun, and if I get up early enough I can climb the Palazzo Vecchio, which is Italian for Old Palace, and watch the sun rise. The Palazzo is one of my favourite places to just sit and think, it clears my head and the view is just spectacular. Of course, I have never told mum about climbing it, she is scared enough about my morning runs, she would simply die if I told her about climbing such a structure. After scowling at the curl for a few for minutes I decided to get some breakfast, but first I gotta get some clothes on. As I said, I don't like to brag about my figure but according to mum I have a figure to die for. Anyway, I picked out a blue shirt with the Union Jack on the back and the Italian flag on the front. I know I am proud of my heritage in Italy, but I just can't help admire the British. I mean, look at a few headlines from a newspaper, in the USA a man vomited on a police car, another took a cats intestines and mailed it to someone, disgusting, but in England one of the smaller ones is _Butterfly population still decreasing_, now that is something nice, not positive, but at least it's not disgusting!

I also put on a pair of plain black trousers, normally I would put on something for running, but with it being my birthday, I don't think that would be possible and besides, I want an explanation as to what the heck this curl is about! I found a pair of shoes, my favourite pair of blue Converse. Another thing about me, is I like the colour blue, it is my favourite in the world. After getting them on I slowly walked downstairs but then rushed back up realising what I had forgotten. I had forgotten to put my hair in its usual ponytail with something VERY special. What I use to keep the tail in place is a ribbon; it's no ordinary ribbon, well at least to me. It was from my father and is virtually the only thing I have left of him. Oh, don't take that the wrong way, he isn't dead, at least I don't think so, he just left mum ages ago, about when I was born, I can barely remember his face. The ribbon is pure silk, dyed blood red and has gorgeous gold trim along the edges; it makes me smile just looking at it. Okay, with that sorted I almost ran downstairs and stood in the kitchen staring at the table. The rest of the kitchen was nice, tiled walls of green and white in various patterns. In fact, the kitchen is mostly green and white, save for the table, which would be a varnished brown if not for a tablecloth draped over it. But that is beside the point; it was what was on the table that interested me. Two present boxes and a chocolate mud cake, I LOVE CHOCOLATE! Especially chocolate mud cake, one of my favourite foods in the world. Mum was sitting at the table as well, probably wondering whether she should have brought out the cake this early, considering it is my birthday she would have let me sleep in. I skipped down the rest of the stairs and sprang into the kitchen, barely giving her time to turn and stand before I grabbed her and hugged her tightly. "Morning mama, how are you today?" I asked, a smile now beaming on my face, as it should be, I don't like having to frown. But mum only gets me one present for my birthday, why is there two? "Hey mama, why are there two presents? You usually only get me one." I question as I look at the two boxes on the table.

"Well, one is from your father Christina, the other is from me and the cake is from Michello down at the bakery." She finished speaking and waited for my reaction. For a moment I was positively gobsmacked but I eventually settled for a beaming smile and squealing with joy.

"YAY! Thanks mum! Now, which present should I open first, or should I figure something for breakfast first, I a mean, the cake is going to be great, but one does not simply have cake for breakfast!" I said as I sat down and pondered, unsure what to do first. Then I remembered what I was going to do. "Hang on, Mum, what exactly is up with this curl?" I questioned pointing at it but not touching it, the last thing I wanted was to touch it again.

It looked like she had been hit with a brick when she noticed it, the obvious curl sticking out the side of my head, that most people would spot a mile away, she had only just noticed. Then she smiled. "Ah, that should have been expected, I am afraid I am not the one to explain this sort of thing. You will have to talk to your father about that." She uttered sitting back down.

"Talk to him, how in the _maledetto inferno_ would I contact him? I don't know where he lives!" I almost shouted, I sounded angry, but I wasn't, I was actually super excited, I would finally get to meet, or at least talk to the man that had been missing most if not all my life. Mama looked slightly annoyed at my use of foul language but calmly moved one of the presents over to me. I picked up the box; it was not very big, nor heavy. I had no idea what it was or could be so I hesitantly undid the blue ribbon and opened the box. What was in the present may have stopped my heart. It was an Iphone, one of the latest, but somehow different; But that wasn't what interested me, it looked almost exactly like the Union Jack on the back, but black cursive writing through the middle saying _Shoot for the moon, if you miss you can still go for the stars!_ Which made me sort of giggle. Underneath it in the box was a piece of paper, with a number with words in brackets underneath (The phones number) and also an address: 34 Auditore road, Rome. I guess that is where dad lives. I put the phone in my pocket and reached for the second box. It was larger, but I think was just about the same weight, maybe slightly heavier. I rattled the box in my hands next to my head trying to figure out what was inside. After thinking for a few seconds I opened it to find what was inside.

It was a dress, a beautiful dress. It was midnight blue with a few splashes of feint sky blue and it positively sparkled in the sunlight that came in from the window. I held it up to the window and looked like a bewildered little girl as the light ever so beautifully reflected off of it. But it was what was underneath the dress that made me smile. It was a bikini; mum bought me swimwear, that so unlike her. It hand the colours of the Italian flag, I don't really wanna talk too much about it right now. So I put them both back in the box, cut a piece of cake, grabbed it and the box, kissed mama goodbye and ran out with my hands in the air laughing.


	2. Chapter 2

I needed a lift so I decided to ask the only person I could, and I really didn't want to ask him. The only person I knew who could get me there was my uncle Feliciano. He was a young looking guy that looked so adorable when he was happy, which he usually was. Funny thing was he had a curl just like mine, but I probably won't ask about it. Another thing is, he drives WAY too fast, even for my liking, but nevertheless, short of getting a taxi, which I am not fond of there is nothing else to do other than take the roof tops as far as I can and walk the rest of the way… Not likely. So I made a beeline for where he was staying, he never stayed in one spot for long, always going across Italy or to various places across the globe, I think he's some sort of politician. Anyway, I walked up the door. It was a nice little apartment, slender building, with hearty orange tiles on the roof, mostly white walls and a crimson door with a gold knocker. Not to mention the garden of roses by the low brick wall out the front.

I knocked on the door and a few seconds later uncle Feli opened the door with the goofiest grin on his face, which of course made me smile. "Christina!" he exclaimed and grabbed me in a hug that rivalled my own. "What are you doing here Christina?" He asked but then noticed the curl in my hair, what is with this curl? "OH! I think I know why you're here, it's your 17th birthday today right?" He asked and I simply nodded "Well, come in!" he exclaimed again and ushered me in. The house on the inside was rather nice, a few paintings here and there and one or two carpets on the floor. We both walked into the kitchen where we were met by two others. A cute guy with short black hair who was wearing a grey and black Hakama and a blonde guy with alluring blue eyes who seemed to be paying strict attention to what the Japanese cutie was doing.

Speaking of him he was the first to notice me enter the room and greeted me with a timid "Herro." Which made me giggle slightly, "Is something funny miss?" He asked and I shook my head trying not to laugh.

Turns out the other guys was German and greeted me with a stiff "Guten Morgen miss." And I waved hello.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" I asked sitting down finishing the piece of cake I had been nibbling at on the way here.

Feli did a quick facepalm and nodded "Of course! These are my best friends. The German is Ludwig and Japan here is Kiku Honda! Now I completely forgot something haven't I…? OH! Present! I forgot to give you your present; it is your 17th birthday after all!" and without another word Uncle Feliciano dashed off to another room leaving me alone with Ludwig and Kiku and we sat there in awkward silence.

"So…." I started "How long have three been friends?" I asked raising an eyebrow at Ludwig.

"Vell, We have been friends for longer than I can really remember an ironically or at least something that is rather amusing is that the thing that brought us togezzer was one of the biggest fights we've seen!" he said and I raised both my eyebrows as far as they could go, that's a VERY interesting way to make friends.

Suddenly Uncle Feli walked back in the room carrying my present; the shape of it told me straight away what it could be. He placed it down on the table and I viciously attacked the wrapping paper surrounding my gift. IT was a pet carrier, but I didn't own a pet, so that meant- That is when I heard the most adorable 'Mew' from inside the carrier. My eyes widened and I almost flung open the hatch and scooped up the most adorable ginger kitten with big blue eyes that almost sparkled. I swear I almost died then and there when I scooped him up in my arms then I thought and asked "Is it a boy, or a girl?" turning to face Uncle Feli.

"It's a girl Christina; I haven't given her a name yet." He smiled. Then suddenly the kitten jumped from my arms and looked at Ludwig and Kiku. Ludwig looked slightly scared of it, or something like that, guess he mustn't be a cat kind of person. Kiku on the other hand merely folded his legs in a meditative position and she scampered up him, padded around a bit and curled up in a ball on his head. Uncle Feli put a hand on my shoulder. "You still haven't told me why you are here!" He smiled while and slapped myself for forgetting.

"Oh yeah! I came to ask you if you could give me a lift to my dad's, I am supposed to see him."

Ludwig spoke up. "I sink you have rushed yourself a bit, you seem to have forgotten something razzer important." He noted.

Uncle Feli decided to join in with this. "That's right, you haven't packed a thing and you're planning on heading to Rome? There is such a thing as over confidence. "He started walking me to the door, "I'll come with you and help you pack, besides, I figured you probably have cake at your place!" he laughed and I pointed to Kiku.

Hey! You look after her till I get back you hear!" I managed to shout from the doorway as we continued out the garden and onto the paved road streets, the fine Italian air filling my lungs again. "Race ya!" I said and left my poor uncle in the dust.

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**A/N: Looking for names for the kitten! Post a suggestion in your review!**


	3. Chapter 3

I finally got home with Uncle Feli barely able to keep up, he was sweating heavily and panting like a crazed dog but he managed to keep up with me the entire way home for the most part. I opened the door and we both walked in, to be met by mama, who was shaking her head smiling. "You always hurry things don't you?" She stated then flicked her head towards the stairs, I've already packed the essentials and I'll leave the rest to you." She then looked at Uncle Feli, "You looked completely worn out Feliciano! Would you like something to drink?" she asked kindly and he nodded.

"You can have some of the cake if you want Uncle! I probably wouldn't get through half of it anyway!" I called from up in my room.

Now I just had to figure out what I was going to wear. I would DEFINETELY be packing my Assassin's Creed hoodie, I mean, why not act like a flirtatious Italian or an almost emotionless Arabic? It always felt like a good idea to me. A few various shirts, hotpants, a skirt, the dress and the bikini, a few pairs of socks though I prefer to go barefoot and of course my 'unmentionables'.

By the time I had finished packing it was almost evening, so despite my objections both Uncle Feli and Mama managed to convince me to wait till tomorrow so I marched up to my bedroom, threw off most of my clothes and wrapped myself in the covers, but I couldn't sleep and I couldn't think why. After thinking about it for a while it suddenly hit me: The Kitten! She was still at Uncle Feli's or… OR with Kiku! Either way it didn't worry me too much, I felt better just knowing what I couldn't remember. I slowly drifted to sleep with a warm fuzzy feeling in my chest that was all too familiar… The feeling of a good life. Of course I don't mean to sound selfish, I understand that there are thousands if not millions that are far less fortunate that I. That particular thought upon a thought almost stopped me sleeping and made me shudder despite being rather warm under the covers. But eventually my eyes slowly drifted downwards, the last thing I saw was the moon high in the sky, crap I forgot to close the curtains.

When I woke up I almost jumped straight up out of bed, but the comfortably warm pillows and covers kept me in their embrace for a few minutes longer. During that time I yawned more times than I could count and my hair had managed to maintain the ponytail for I had forgotten to remove the ribbon and now my lovely dark brown hair was a sort of frizzy mess.

The light had already flooded the room, tinting everything a lovely shade of morning orange. I never really keep my room tidy as such, but I prevent it from becoming a pig sty and I already know where most of my stuff is anyway.

Now today I am really excited, so excited my heart is beating so fast I might pass out. Of course, that will never be a problem, I am a constantly active person and heart rate isn't going to be much of a problem to me. I jump out of bed and bee lined for the bathroom to fix my hair. Upon trying to getting it smooth again I accidentally tugged the curl… At the base which made me fall over and hit my head on the sink. While it didn't knock me out I now have a small cut on my forehead that was gently bleeding. "Cazzo" I mumbled to myself and no, I will not translate that for you.

After putting a Band-Aid on it and cleaning up the small splashes of blood and internally punching myself for not paying more attention to the curl. But seriously, what is this damn thing?

The good news was my bangs over my right eye covered the Band-Aid quite nicely. As I walked down the stairs with my luggage, however little there was, I saw Uncle Feli was rearing to go and with him stood Ludwig and of course Kiku, with the kitten on his head still. I still hadn't given her a name yet, I will probably come up with one though. I giggled as I picked p my kitten of Kiku's head and he blushed slightly, he just looked so innocent and sweet!

Uncle Feli ushered me out the door and I barely had a chance to kiss mama goodbye and just to be a bit of a tease I gave Kiku a peck on the cheek, much to the surprise of both him and Ludwig. Uncle Feli's car was right outside the house on the side of the road but when I saw it my eyes widened in panic. It was a sports car, nonetheless a red Maserati. "Come on Christina!" He called out to me and I suddenly snapped out of my terrified trance and raced my bags into the trunk of the car. "You looked like you saw a ghost Christina, something wrong?" I simply shook my head and leaned it against my hand looking out the window. The following hour or so disappears before in a blur across the beautiful countryside, occasionally passing through the odd small village, which all still have their magnificent Renaissance architecture I crave and adore. But then, as we passed a particular hill the majestic city of Rome came into view. The colosseum clearly visible from where we were. We entered the city and it was clear although that most of it had been modernised , many refused to change the beauty that was Rome. After another few minutes of driving through the busy streets I decided to ask Uncle Feli something regarding sightseeing.

"Hey uncle, will we be able to see the Vatican?" I asked as sweetly possible. But when he heard the name Vatican he paled rather considerably and although he may not have noticed it, he swerved slightly. "Something wrong?" I quizzed him with a puzzled look on my face.

He merely shook his head and chuckled nervously. "Probably not, you see, you're dad, my brother, has had a few problems with them. I don't think they would let us in anyway, it isn't open to the general public most of the time." He pointed out, that made me frown, I was really hoping to get a look at the place, there was just something about it that made me want to explore.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Since only one person decided to reply with a name, the kitten will be named Diana, after the goddess of Hunting, Moon and Birth.**

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By the time we got to Dad's place it was almost sunset, the sun was just above the horizon, and only a hint of orange could be seen. We pulled up outside a pair of wrought iron gates that were sat between a brick wall. Beyond the gates at least what I could see was something of a mansion. Plenty of white, a little bit of brown and a lot of cream. There were also a lot of gargoyles on the corners of the roof which looked interesting, their grey almost opposite to the colours around them.

It took me a moment but I realised Uncle Feli had gotten out of the car and was opening the gates. After opening the black giants of an entrance he got back in the car and drove up the path leading to the main building. "So THIS is 34 Auditore Road, cool." I commented.

Feli heard me and smirked. "Well, technically it's both our houses, we mainly use it when we are in Italy and while we are on business. Your Pa doesn't get out often except to the UN meetings."

That last sentence made me slightly confused, "Dad is a member of the UN?" I asked hesitantly.

"Of sorts, we both are. So are Ludwig and Kiku, if you must know." He stated as he stopped the car outside the entrance. The huge brown double doors standing triumphantly in the doorframe with dragon head knockers that seem to taunt any who came near.

We both got out of the car, Uncle Feli grabbed my stuff out of the trunk and I slowly and cautiously approached the doors. I reached out a hand and grabbed one of the knockers, raised it and let it fall back to its starting spot with a loud bang.

Uncle Feli stood next to me and waited for the doors to open. Sure enough after a few seconds the doors opened and there in front of me was a male version of me just about. Same hair colour, eyes and even the ridiculous curl was exactly the same! Uncle Feli suddenly dropped my things and tackled the man in front of me with a savage hug; I swear I heard something crack.

"Fratello!" exclaimed Uncle Feli, all the while the man he spear tackled with a hug just continued to stare at me and I did the same. Seriously the resemblance was kinda scar- WAIT! He just called him brother! Since he is my uncle that means that he is…

"Papa!" I let out and tackled him with a similar hug.

"WOAH! BACK UP!" he shouted out and managed to get both Uncle Feli and me off of him. "Right Now that THAT'S solved Fratello," He said turning to me, "Who on earth are you?"

Uncle Feli rolled his eyes and draped his arms around our shoulders and made us look at each other. "You big idiota! She's your daughter Christina!" he exclaimed and my father's jaw simply dropped.

When he finally got his face back to normal he extended an open hand and smiled gently "Lovino Lombardi Vargas."

I giggled and hugged him again, "Christina! Christina Michelangelo Vargas!" I said as happily as I could. He simply looked bewildered until Uncle Feli ushered us in. The Place was magnificent! So many paintings and tapestries along the hardy oak walls. Uncle Feliciano walked me down countless hallways that looked completely different but had the same splendid vibe to them. Suddenly he stopped in front of a pair of light brown varnished doors and handed me an old black iron key.

I nervously put the key in the lock and turned it slowly. There was a click and the door unlocked. The inside was huge! The first thing I saw were the windows, they were massive and almost stretched from the floor to the ceiling! The next thing I noticed was the bed. It was the biggest thing I had ever seen, a four poster giant with silk mosquito veil and crimson covers. It looked like something out of a movie or a fairytale.

There was a door to the far left that lead to god knows where else. Uncle Feli put my stuff down in the middle of the room and proceeded to walk out, leaving me alone, bewildered in some sort of daydream. I turned in circles looking around the room at all the awesome things. There seemed to be a large treasure sort of chest against one of the walls in-between some drawers which seemed to draw me in.

I cautiously reached forward and tried to open it. Locked. I pulled my room key out of my pocket and tried that, without success. I rolled my eyes and slipped the key back in my pocket. I figured my dad and uncle would give me a few minutes to get acclimated to the place before visiting or chatting so I took of my shoes and socks and let the smooth and warm carpet feel wonderful under my bare feet.

After a few minutes of sitting on the bed letting my feet dangle over the edge a figure appeared in the doorway. It was dad, and he had a smile on his face. "So, how are you finding the accommodations?"

I blinked and whipped around to face him "They're great! I haven't seen a room this big in my life!" I exclaimed now back to looking around the room.

"Well, Get some rest. I'll be taking you to get fitted for some smarter clothing."

That particular word 'smarter' in that sentence made me a little angry. "Smarter? What do you mean by that?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well, if you want to come with me to work we have to get you a suit. As much as you like what you wear right now, you have to look representable where I work." He put bluntly and was turning away and walking when I asked him.

"Where do you work?" I blurted out without realizing it.

He chuckled and turned slightly so I could only see half of his face. "A place with a whole lot of crazy." and with that he left me to myself in the palace that was my new room. I jumped on to the bed and my eyes widened in panic when I actually bounced off it and on to the floor! My old bed if you jumped spread eagle on to it would just suck you in to its warm confines. I threw off my clothes leaving me in my underwear and climbed under the covers. This was going to take some getting used to.


	5. Chapter 5

I couldn't tell what time it was when I woke up but I definitely wouldn't be able to go back to sleep because I was awoke by a small group of maids who almost stormed into the room and were trying to usher me out of bed. I pulled the covers over my head and held them in place, there was NO way they would be taking me anywhere today, especially when they pulled the covers off the bed and while I was covering myself up I caught a glimpse at the time on one of their watches. It was only 7am, seven am! So I ran away from them and into the room I had yet to explore.

I pushed open the door and slammed it shut behind me and pressed my back against it. Having ditched the squad of sleep disturbers temporarily I drew a slow breath. I didn't have to look for long to figure what this room was. It was a bathroom, or bathhouse I think, a mix between the two. There was a small steaming pool, a large bathtub, at least three sinks, all of them a classy white with gold painted taps and faucets. There was even a changing veil and I was considering taking off my clothes for a dip when I remembered I wasn't really wearing any, save for my underwear.

The knocking at the door had finally ceased which means the team of maids had given up and left or were busy doing something else in there. I stood up straight and sighed, today was going to be a LOOONG day.

I finally decided to do something after about a minute of thinking and flung my bra and panties over the veil for a long soak in the steamy water. It was a pleasant feeling, the steam seemed to have an effect on me that dulled my senses but made me happy to just relax there. I swear I could smell some incense among it but I didn't pay much of it.

I had no idea how long I sat in the pool for but it must have been a couple of hours because when I finally coaxed myself out of there my fingers and toes had gone way past the stage of looking like prunes… more like a combo of a prune and a squashed tomato, mmm tomato's, I really like tomato's, not as much as chocolate, NOTHING will replace that.

I grabbed my things and walked to the door. I opened it slowly but what happened at the same time stopped my heart after I realized, as I opened the bathroom door Kiku opened my room door and was peering into the room we he saw me, dripping wet and stark naked.

The first thing that registered in my mind after that was an intense burning feeling in my face, it didn't take me a second later to realize I was blushing and I stepped back and slammed the door and looked frantically for a towel.

I found one and wrapped it around me and covered myself up as much as possible and tentatively opened the door. What I found was not too expected. Kiku had gotten a nosebleed and had passed out. I ran over to him and checked for any head injuries and thank goodness I didn't find any.

I thought quickly and thought of the only thing I could do, I dragged him quickly into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. After a few splashes he finally woke and scrambled away from me blushing when he realized what had happened.

He couldn't look me in the eye and was turned with his back to me. "I am terribry sorry Christina, I had no idea you were comepretrey naked. I came looking for for you because your father wishes to see you." He said bluntly with a lot more apologies thrown in afterwards but I just smiled and hugged him, causing him to blush again.

"It's alright Kiku, at least you had the dignity to feint instead of perving on me like plenty of guys I know would, you did the honourable thing." The mention of the H word seemed to make the blush disappear and replace it with a smile. "Now get outta here!" I said and playfully shoved him towards the door.

Once he was gone completely I walked back into my room and thought about what to wear, I supposed it wouldn't matter too much as dad was planning to get me fitted for a suit today, but before THAT I wanted to know what this blasted curl is!

I put on some new underwear and pulled on a slightly baggy cream coloured, knitted sweater and green short shorts. I didn't bother with shoes or socks and I walked out into the hallways and locked my room. Now the only problem was, where do I go from here?

I scowled and found out that scowling hurts so I settled for a confused face as I cautiously walked down one of the corridors and noticed Kiku stumbling in a sort of daze with his hands on his face.

I ran after him and locked arms with him and rested my head on his shoulder. "Hey there! You lost?" I asked him raising an eyebrow and he jumped.

"C-Christina! You scared me! Yes, I mean no, I am not lost, just dazed." He almost stuttered out.

I chuckled and decided to tease him a little; after all, he was so easy to tease. "Can't get enough of me can you? Even since that kiss back in Florence you can't leave me alone!" I said smiling.

He blushed heavily and looked at me while we walked. "No! What makes you think I rike you a-anyway?"

I playfully punched him on the shoulder, "I was only messing with ya! Besides, I can tell, the blushing and stammering is one thing but another way is how tight you're holding my arm and your head, its leaning near my shoulder." I put out there beaming with a childish smile.

After a few more turns we finally descended the grand staircase at the entrance and now it was his turn to leave me flustered. "Good day Christina." He said softly and kissed me on the cheek.

I just stood there for what seemed like a minute clutching the cheek he had placed his lips on while so many thoughts at once ran through my head.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: This one took a little longer than expected...Mainly because I couldn't figure where I would end the chapter and start a new one...Enjoy! XD**

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Well after that little surprise I decided I would try and avoid Kiku until I figure out what I am going to do with him. I looked around the area a bit and found dad. He was eating toast at a charming kitchen table in a room that looked kind of place here… It looked almost like the kitchen at home.

I smiled and sat down next to him and he looked up at me. "So, get a good night's sleep?" He asked with a light smile on his face.

I nodded and looked at him. I wasn't sure exactly what he was. He wore a suit with black jacket, red shirt and black tie, it made him look rather sharp and he seemed to have a serious face on most of the time. It was rather confusing, especially when he is around Uncle Feli and me he smiles and is almost cheery.

Then I remembered what I was going to ask him. "Hey Dad, what is up with this curl?" I asked sweetly and he turned to face me.

"That, well I guess you deserve an explanation, but you might get more than you bargained for, because the curl is not the only thing I will be explaining." He put bluntly, "Are you sure you wish to know?"

I barely gave a second thought and said "Yes" with a happy nod.

He walked me to a small room that looked like a mini library; it had a fireplace with a burning fire sending smoke up the chimney. The bookcases closest to the fireplace had a fine orange glow to them and there were two comfy looking old chairs in front of the fire.

He ushered me over to one of them and sat me down. He seemed to stare into the fire for a few minutes, as if trying to figure out what to say exactly, and when he finally broke the silence his face was very stern. "Alright Christina, I have two things to tell you, one is VERY big and important and the other is not so, but highly relevant to you; which do you want to know first?"

Unable to hold myself back any longer I blurted out "The big one first please, and don't leave ANYTHING out!"

He smiled and looked away for a second "I won't be able to list everything; that could take years. Now I need your strictest confidentiality that you will not tell ANYONE what I tell you." I quickly nodded, not wanting to miss any more of what he was saying. "I am a country."

That left me REALLY confused, how could someone BE a country? That seems practically impossible! Anyway, Papa kept talking. "I can understand your confusion; I am the physical embodiment of a country, to be precise Romano, or South Italy. As you may have just realized, your uncle Feliciano is also a country, the majority of Italy. Kiku and Ludwig you have already met according to Fratello are also countries, Japan and Germany."

I listened with rapt attention as he continued to talk, noting that countries do not physically age and are almost unkillable unless attacked by other countries and how he worked at the UN because he was a country, and was the only reason he went, other than to safeguard uncle Feli, or should I say Italy.

After a few more minutes he had finally finished talking and sat back in the chair, letting the fire to spread its warmth across his face. As for me, I just sat there with my jaw dropped until he looked as though he had remembered something and faced me again.

"As for the curl we share… It's an erogenous zone… If you don't know what that means, just don't tell anyone aside from your boyfriend if you have one… You do have one right?"

Aside from the initial surprise of discovering what my curl was I smirked and shook my head. "Pity," he said "Because now you have an even higher chance of being seduced by France." He finished, which left me slightly confused as to what kind of person France was… Probably a handsome guy with a cute personality and a tendency to flirt… I hope.

"Oh, and in case you're hungry, the kitchen is thatta way." He pointed out and looked as if he was going to fall asleep.

I managed to walk my way to the kitchen and find something to eat, toast. Toast with strawberry jam, alright I'll admit it, I have a bit of a sweet tooth, okay a REALLY big sweet tooth, but I don't care! Sugar is what keeps me going and I wouldn't change that for the world…Not even for chocolate.

While waiting for my toast to cook I couldn't help but notice my reflection in the silver like toaster. I hadn't payed much attention to what I was wearing this morning but I think it worked rather well, the baggy cream coloured sweater looked adorable on me and baggy clothes generally when well with short shorts, even green ones.

I also don't like wearing makeup, mama says I don't need it and I would agree, at least while I'm young, my face might change in a few years but I don't think it'll be much of a problem, who knows; I may have gotten a few gene's from papa to help with the aging thing.

I almost twirled over to the fridge to find something to drink and to my surprise looked rather retro, a sort of 1950's fridge. I opened it and found almost straight away what I was looking for, orange juice. I mean, you have to have SOMETHING to balance out the sugar and for me, oranges work. I have made it my favourite drink… Apart from Coca Cola, nothing will replace that, unless of course they replace it with that cola from a video game a friend showed me once… I think the stuff was called Nuka Cola?

I poured myself a glass and took a sip; it was good, even better than the stuff at home. I continued to drink the juice and munch the toast until there wasn't any left on my plate and in my glass.

I Waited around for a few minutes and made my way over to the main door where I found Uncle Italy and Dad. "Ah there she is!" Exclaimed Uncle Italy and he glomped me before I had a chance to say hi.

"Ready?" Dad asked me and I raised an eyebrow. "To get your suit!" he let out and patted me on the back before walking us out the door and into a car which I didn't pay much attention to. We drove through the streets of Rome and I stared out the window most of the way just absorbing the sights.

There was activity everywhere! There were street vendors and their stands and in between those were stores of every shape and size, selling anything you wanted. After a few minutes the car stopped and we got out. We were right outside a sharp looking tailor's building, looks like my new threads are going to be more important than I expected.

We walked in and instantly the atmosphere hit me, a feint yet distinct smell of cigarettes and the older tunes of a crackling gramophone. An old man walked out form the counter at the sound of us entering and slowly walked over to us.

It didn't take long to figure he was blind, he almost felt his way over to us and his eyes were almost white, save for the greyish-white that was his retinas. He walked over to my father and tugged at his sleeve gently. "Lovino…My old friend, what brings you here?" He asked in his old tones that were as smooth as butter, for an old man, he was rather sharp, I bet he was quite the lady-killer when he was young.

"I need a suit Leo, I need a new suit." He said softly and Leo put on a confused face.

"You haven't destroyed the last one have you? After such a short time! You suit doesn't feel like it need any repairs as such."

Papa smiled, "It's not for me, the new suit is for my daughter Leonardo." He said putting his hand on Leo's shoulder.

It was as if the old suit maker could suddenly see me or that I never existed and turned to face me, I guess he didn't know who I was until dad pointed me out. "Really? Are you seriously planning on bringing her into your business at her age? How old is she?" He sounded like a grumpy old man now and it took a small amount of persuasion from dad to calm him down.

"I am not taking her into THAT business, I need her to have a suit for the UN meetings and she is 17." He put out sharply and Leo simply nodded.

"Come forward girl; let me get a good look at you." He ushered me closer and I was rather hesitant, especially when started running his hands all over me. He finished giving a sort of hands on once over and smiled. "I already have something that would be perfect for her." He now sounded a lot happier, I guess his attitude changed according to what was happening and what he was doing and making and fitting clothes was he loved to do.

He took a small varnished, wood briefcase into a velvet curtained change room with a female mannequin with a jacket on it and he slid the curtain so I could not see what he was doing. After a few minutes he walked back out. "In, go and change little one." He almost pushed me into the change room.

I looked at was in front of me, a suit of sorts. I put it on and looked in the mirror to my left. It was a sharp black jacket that looked straight and stiff and would look great standing still but felt smooth and snug on the inside. I had a crisp white, button up shirt on underneath and I left the top button on the jacket and shirt undone to show the tiniest tease of cleavage. The shirt collar was folded flatly over the jacket neck and I thought it made me look REALLY sexy.

Instead of a skirt I was wearing trousers that mimicked the effects of a dress on each leg and didn't hug the legs themselves. With my hair in a ponytail and the bangs over my eye I thought I would look great with a pair of glasses…And shoes, as I wasn't actually wearing anything on my feet. I put on a pair of black high heels that were on a shelf with two other pairs and I slowly walked myself out of the changing room.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Would love to see what you lot think of the story for those who are still reading! For those who have already read most of the story and were waiting patiently for the next chapter, here it is!**

**A big shoutout to LittleCosma001 who had been a great person to chat to and has helped with inspiration to the story!**

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When I walked out and into everyone's line of sight their jaws dropped, with the exception of Leo, who couldn't see so he walked up to me and stroked the suit and ran his hand down to the waist and he looked slightly confused and I realized that there was a minor gap between the jacket and the trousers, with only a minor amount of shirt, effectively showing some of my waist and a hint of my belly button.

"Hmmm, very interesting… Slightly smaller than I anticipated but nevertheless a nice outcome; Remember, treat your suit well and it will treat YOU well." And with that slowly waddled back to the counter and we walked out the door.

We took the car back to Dad's 'mansion' It wasn't as big as some of the mansion I had seen, that and the fact that was only about a metre from the stone wall around the outside and the roof almost stretched across it to the next building, which in turn stretched to the next, then the next and so on.

It made me energetic, seeing those buildings in their splendour, old blending almost seamlessly with the new. That was it, the moment I got home I would put on something more comfortable and go for a run.

The car pulled up to the door and I didn't even wait for it to stop to get out. I raced up to my room, getting lost only twice, improving on my last score of 6 when I went to get a book to read. I unlocked the door and tried to open it but couldn't, it was locked? Someone had unlocked my room and forgot to lock it?

I didn't like the idea so when I unlocked the door for real this time I hesitantly opened the door and found Jap-er Kiku, god, I don't know what to call him or Ludwig anymore…I suppose I should call him Kiku for now, as I don't suppose he knows that I know about the country thing.

Anyway, I found Japan lying on the floor reading what appeared to erotic manga, seriously? I had no idea he read that stuff! I opened the door the rest of the way and walked over to him. He hadn't noticed me so I squatted down, put my face above the book and slowly moved it down.

"Hello Kiku, whatcha doing?" I asked sweetly, trying not to get angry at the fact he broke into my room.

He suddenly bolted back and tried to hide the manga he was reading and was blushing like crazy. "OH Christina! I am sorry, I wanted to talk to you and your room was unlocked but you weren't here so I thought I wourd wait untir you got back!" he continued to blabber out apologies while I walked behind him and pushed him out of the room.

"Changin, talk in a mo." I put bluntly and shut the door. Whew, glad that was over. I took off the entire suit even the high heels; to honest I preferred sneakers by far. But before I put something else on I took a moment to let the breeze from the slightly open window feel good on my skin, the suit breathed perfectly, Leonardo obviously knows what he is doing, but sometimes you just need some air.

I rummaged through the drawers and found that all the stuff I had packed was already sorted neatly away in to the drawers. I looked and found a blue shirt with the Tardis from Doctor Who on the from with white text underneath saying _THINK INSIDE THE BOX_ . I loved Doctor Who, although it wasn't Italian I still love it, as I have said before, or at least described myself as a proud Anglophile.

I know what you are thinking, but don't if you don't know what one is, I will say it means a great admiration or love for all things British. As well as the shirt I found a pair of shorts that would work well for a run. They were purplish but were closer to a blue than anything.

And last but not least I put on a pair of sky blue and white striped short socks and a pair of pink Converse which I know I didn't own. Guess dad picked up on what kind of clothes I liked. Lastly I took out my ribbon and let my hair down, it would be better if I let it flow while running.

I flung open the doors and pecked Kiku on the cheek "Going for a run, talk to ya later!" I giggled at him; he was oh so easy to tease. I'm feeling kinda guilty about all of it though, I'll have to make it up to him at some point, maybe a box of chocolates? Nah, I'd just eat them.

I walked out the front and looked up, no real good surfaces to climb. I walked around the back and found a lot of vines climbing up the wall almost up to the roof, parting once for a balcony, the only one I have seen on the building.

I started climbing, they weren't too strong, but I'm a nimble climber and I made it up to the balcony without a hitch. The balcony lead into a room I couldn't place, it was rather dark, but had a few melted candles illuminating sections of the room.

It was mostly ivory black with a white in the corners where stone pillars stood. It had a certain dark vibe I didn't like. There was a black briefcase on the bed with a funny logo on it I had never seen before. The bedside table nearby had a candle that was relatively new and had a silver crucifix necklace and something that looked like a streamlined miniature dvd player.

Suddenly the screen lit up on the player thing and I could hear footsteps from outside so I bolted up out the balcony entrance and up the vines to the roof. Once on the roof I managed to stop panting and the sweat on my brow had ceased.

I did a few stretches and set of for my run, the wind sending my loose hair flying behind me. I easily jumped across the tiled rooftops at a steady pace and settled into a sort of rhythm. The gaps between the roofs seemed to shrink with each progressive leap except for one particular leap which was a bit longer than my leg reach, I merely grabbed the ledge with my fingers and hung over the side for a brief moment regaining my full sense and pulled my self over the top.

I looked around and realized I had NO idea where I was, I couldn't see dad's place anywhere and no recognizable landmarks. I scowled and saw a way down to the streets. An alley that had an almost perfect jump route from the rooftop I was on.

I jumped from the roof edge at a run and landed on a sturdy stack of crates, then to a low, thin wall and finally on to the ground, continuing at a run I slid over the bonnet the edge of a moving car and made it over the road and received an angry car honk.

"EY! Stupid girl, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" a man said getting out of the vehicle I slid across. He was a sort of a large man with a bit of a beer gut and a scraggly beard. People should know better than to pick fights with me.

I marched halfway across the road and got in his face. "You wanna pick a fight mister?" I snarled at him with as ferociously as I could muster. And he simply scowled and started to get back in his car. "Yeah, I thought so." I finished and walked back across the road to a tourist information centre I was originally going for. Then out of nowhere I saw the minor blur of another car and the last thing I heard before passing out was a car horn.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Alright! here it is! another chapter! feel free to review. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one, took me a little longer than expected due to a minor case of spontaneous writers block but never fear!**

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I woke up some time later in what I think was a hospital bed, my vision hadn't recovered enough to figure anything out. So I just lay there swaying my head with a Disney song in my head: Everybody wants to be cat… Odd. (If you wanna listen: watch?v=_I1_5mSXinQ )

When the dizziness finally stopped I got a good look at where I was. I was indeed in a hospital, wearing what I was wearing earlier, except my shoes were missing, leaving my blue and white striped shorts sticking just out the end of the bed.

At my side sitting on a chair asleep was dad and next to him in another chair also asleep was indeed Uncle Italy. But there was also someone else who was facing the opposite way and was standing in the door way wearing a rather casual looking shirt and shorts.

But I could recognise that hairstyle anywhere, it was Kiku, he heard me stirring and turned to face me. He smiled, which I think made me blush; I couldn't feel much at the time so I couldn't tell.

He walked over and leaned in close and whispered something in my ear, which I couldn't hear. I couldn't hear the rain that was hitting the window with an abstract sky of grey… I couldn't hear ANYTHING! My hear t started racing and my chest began to rise and fall really fast, I don't wanna be deaf!

Tears started welling up in my eyes and my vision became obscured again. Kiku leaned closer and hugged me, "It's arright." He whispered in my ear. That hit me like a brick, I could hear again?

I hugged him back and kissed him, not on the cheek this time… On the lips. I don't know whether it was him or natural recovery but I don't care… Getting hit by a car is not fun; neither is not being able to hear.

He went flustered and sat back down on a spare chair, waking my Uncle and dad. "Christina! You're awake!" Uncle Italy almost screamed at me, suddenly being deaf didn't seem so bad. Dad didn't say anything, he merely smiled a little and ruffled my hair, I guess he would find out what happened later, and when he found out about my run I guess getting hit by a car would be the tip of the iceberg.

I was let out of the hospital very quickly once I came to, with no severe or permanent injuries. I turns out I had been out for an hour or so, unconscious that is, my run lasted for about 2 hours.

We were driven home as the sun was gently setting over the horizon; sunsets were just so beautiful; how the pairing of orange and purple went well with the couple of red and yellow. Huh? I just listed a few ways to represent a relationship… Am I falling for Kiku? Well I guess time will tell.

Uncle Feli made us spaghetti Bolognese for supper and it tasted wonderful. Ludwig and Kiku were there as well and I couldn't help glance up at him occasionally as I ate. After that I was feeling slightly tired so I went back up to my room figuring I would have a bath before bed.

When I got to my room it was unlocked again, I suspected Kiku but when I opened the door there was something else. A small wall was now littered with pictures with names underneath them. Here was a note under them all saying _going to the UN tomorrow, wear your suit and memorize the names with faces! Love Papa._ I giggled as I plucked the note and skimmed over the pictures briefly and got my first look at the apparently infamous France, whose name was Francis Bonnefoy.

I looked over the pictures for what seemed like an hour or more, my eyelids slowly drooping every now and then and I slapped myself to stay awake. "Not much longer." I mumbled to myself as my eyes closed completely then flung open again.

I wasn't going to last much longer but I was almost finished. I looked at the last picture and saw a handsome young blonde with short hair and almost radioactive emerald eyes. He was England but his name was Arthur Kirkland, cute.

And with that I couldn't stay awake any longer, my eyes were slowly drifting downwards and I was sliding on my side, falling asleep a metre from the bed. Suddenly I was gently scooped up by someone and was being layed gently down on the bed. "Gratzi" I mumbled as the pair of muscly arms tucked me in. I had no idea who this person was, the turned out the light, leaving only the light from the door flowing gently into a rectangle on the floor and they walked out the door.

He stopped before he left and said one thing "Goot night Christina." It was Germany?! What was he doing near my room? Maybe his room is close? I just have no idea with the size of this place! But I guess I shouldn't dwell on it too much, my mind wouldn't let me for my eyes had finally given up staying open and in my final moments of consciousness I pulled the covers up to my chin and smiled.

The following morning I woke to find something curled up next to me on the bed, I didn't even know she was here! But there, on the bed, almost right in front of my face sat my kitten; I STILL hadn't given her a name yet. I suppose I should call her Diana, after the goddess of the Hunt and Moon, I mean why not? The cat is a night creature and she should be GREAT at catching mice! I bet that would help mum a little.

I grinned and stroked her gently and she purred and nuzzled my face in return. After refusing to get up for another hour I managed to drag myself out of bed and walked slowly into the bathroom. I didn't have too much energy yet so I sluggishly removed my clothes and climbed into the almost ever ready pool. The warm steamy waters seemed to wake me up a little but I wouldn't get ANYWHERE today if I didn't get some sugar or orange juice in me, that stuff was my life fuel.

After about half an hour I went back into my room and got dressed, I put on the shirt of the suit only right now and flung the jacket over my shoulder I decided to leave my door unlocked now, it seemed almost pointless to lock it as almost everyone had gotten in at some stage.

I went to open the door and received an unwelcome smack on the nose from it. I fell and landed on my back clutching my nose moaning slightly as Kiku walked into the room. "Ow." I moaned as he finally noticed I was on the ground bleeding and clutching my nose and he quickly bent down to help me, dabbling with so many " I am terribry sorry" and "Sorry Christina!" as he dabbed at my nose with a handkerchief. After he mopped all the blood on my face he helped me up.

"T-thanks' Kiku, even if this was sorta your fault." I mumbled and he half smiled, half blushed. We were walking out of the room when Kiku slipped on a small patch of blood that had dripped on the floor while I was still bleeding and he fell on top of me as I could hear my father about to walk in the doorway.

"Christina! We are leaving soo-…" He stopped mid-sentence and stared at the cute Japanese boy on top of me in a sort of awkward position and his jaw dropped for a second before his face was filled with red and what I suspected was rage. He literally picked up Kiku and held him by the collar while shouting a huge amount of unprintable obscenities at him, most of which concerned 'violating a young girls innocence' and 'taking advantage of me' and a 'seducing frog' and how those things were bad enough with France but now there were two of his kind.

Dad dropped him and lined a punch but I ran in the way and stopped him. "DAD!" I yelled. "Kiku didn't DO anything! He merely slipped on a spill of blood that was on the floor after I hit my nose on the door!"

It took a few minutes to sink in but dad finally got the message and helped Kiku back up. "Look, sorry about that Japan, won't happen again, unless you do it for real next time!"

Kiku shook his head and walked quickly out of the room mumbling "Sorry sir, won't happen again sir I swear!" and dad turned to face me.

"He didn't ACTUALLY do anything did he?" he asked curiously and I shook my head. I didn't even have time to have breakfast, dad was already in his red and black suit and he rushed everybody into the car and we quickly drove to the UN building.

Well we didn't actually drive to the UN building; we went to a ramshackle old place and walked through the door. Then all of a sudden we were in a splendorous building with white stone pillars and red velvet carpets and I almost forgot to put on the suit jacket before we walked into the conference room itself.

Dad was right; it was a whole lot of crazy.


	9. Chapter 9

**Please Review!**

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The conference table was big, really big. Hang on, why is THAT the first thing I notice? Nevermind, The first people easy enough to spot are Germany and England. Germany was at the head of the table calmly waiting to announce something and England was at the table next to his sister Alice shuffling papers. Oddly enough England was wearing a blue scarf and a black overcoat; I figured being an English Gentleman he would wear something more appropriate.

I skipped over and sat next to him and he acknowledged my presence with a light nod and a gruff hello. He placed the papers down in front of him and began jotting down notes. France walked by and I got my first look at the infamous Frenchman.

Honestly I wasn't sure what was wrong the guy; he seemed fairly nice, if a bit too flirty. As he walked past England started clicking his pen furiously trying to get it to work, so I handed him one of mine. Soon the meeting got underway and Germany called everyone to attention.

"Alright everyvone, ze current issue at hand is the British reclamation of Hong Kong. May ze needed countries please stand." That was when I saw him, I didn't have a photo of Hong Kong but I knew him when I saw him.

He was about my age, or at least he looked it and wore casual clothes compared to a Chinese robe. He looked very similar to China but had distinct bushy eyebrows like England's and brown hair instead of black. He was by FAR the best looking guy in the room, save for France, but he was an exception.

China looked confused, "What? Why would you do this Hong Kong?"

Hong Kong barely batted an eyelid. "All you do is use me, I am merely an extension of the 'mighty Chinese republic'; I had THREE bombings that you did nothing about and I won't have it anymore."

"Fine, what does he get out of it?" China asked pointing at Hong Kong.

England cleared his throat and spoke, "Hong Kong will gain a 125 Million Pound benefit from being reclaimed and will become a prominent member of the Commonwealth. The British will have a single Aircraft carrier stationed at the biggest harbour in Hong Kong and will serve as a military training area and trading waypoint to China and Asia at large."

England then tightened the blue scarf around his neck slightly and put his hands on the table. "It will also be able to halt the illegal smuggling going on in China; a smuggling group known as the Black Lotus have been smuggling Chinese artefacts and other items via Hong Kong into England where they can be bought at auctions or sold illegally in black market conditions."

China was about to protest but England intervened; "Don't try and deny it, I've seen the records, you have been allowing the smuggling to go on and what s worse the rest of you are in on it aswell." He said looking around the table his eyes rested on Germany. "Ludwig, you recently purchased an interesting vase at an auction in London recently, I saw it at your place when I visited; As it happened that SAME vase or at least one that looked like it had disappeared from a Chinese Temple museum."

His eyes moved along to Kiku and I panicked slightly, Kiku did something illegal? "Japan, you recently acquired a tapestry of significant value, you paid 5 million pounds for it but that's mere pocket change to how much it is worth to the Japanese as a historical piece of work but then again it was more of a reclamation than an illegal buy, I'll let that one slip.

Lastly if not least, since I suspected these and proved them I took the added precaution of putting a miniature Geiger counter into my watch, courtesy of Military Intelligence. I noticed that one of us is emitting minor amounts of radiation, I covered up its detection by clicking my pen, thank you for yours Christina, but I shan't actually need it." He said which made me blush the tiniest bit. "France." He put bluntly looking up at him. "You were the radioactive one, you purchased a large amount of plutonium from the Black Lotus and how do I know you got the plutonium from them? I have been paying rapid attention to China and its valuables, a rather large amount of radioactive substance disappeared from a Chinese silo and not even an eye blinked, now you must be asking yourselves, how could that have happened?

Because China is letting it happen. Not his fault really but one of the major Chinese organised crime group; the Yakuza are working hand in hand with the Black Lotus and are trying to keep Yao quiet with death threats, upon hacking your emails China, very easy by the way, I discovered that there have been no fewer than eight death threats and over fifty blackmail notices but that isn't the worst part.

The Triads, another major crime syndicate found out about the Black Lotus and are trying to stop them, hence the bombings in Hong Kong, all the while Yao simply cowers behind his desk, waiting for a ninja to fly in the window are crawl out the vents." England finished without even taking a breath of relief; it was like he talked like that for a living!

Everyone sat there gobsmacked with the exception of those standing until England sat down and Ludwig cleared his throat. "Vell, wiz zat settled ve vill have a thirty minute recess and the next item on ze agenda after zhat is ze disappearance of Atlantis!" Germany let out as everyone stood up and I looked rather surprised…. Atlantis ACTUALLY exists?

I followed my dad through a few corridors into a HUGE room filled doors with gold name plaques next to them and into the room with his on it. He sat down at a large oak desk in a spinning office chair and pointed me to sit down in another chair.

"So, what did you think?" he asked me with a hint of a smile on his face.

I blinked a few times before answering, "Honestly, I am not sure, it certainly isn't what I was expecting from the UN, especially England, what the heck is up with him?" I asked with a frown/pout on my face.

"Oh, him He isn't just a member of British government, he was but he retired. He was a Captain in the S.A.S, the navy and was a Pirate at some point but now he's Consulting Detective, a sort of Private Eye but he also works with the Police. He works with Alexander Watson and they can be usually found at 221B Baker Street on Saturdays… Or at least that's what the website says." He said trying to sound as formal as possible but it obviously wasn't working.

"I see, never heard of a Consulting Detective before but it sounds cool, I'm just gonna have a look around, have a chat with some others, that okay?" I asked sweetly smiling as I walked towards the door.

He looked up from the desk and smiled back. "Of course not sweetie, just avoid France okay? Also…" he paused, "got a crush on anyone yet?" he questioned chuckling and I threw a pen at him and closed the door behind me.

Once outside I leaned on the door and blushed on the door slightly and whispered "Maybe."


	10. Chapter 10

I decided to check around some of the offices and the first on my list was England's sister Alice. The reason why was because I wanted to find why Arthur acts the way he does….AND maybe find out where Hong Kong was.

I would have needed to improve my manners because I unconsciously went to open the door without knocking and got a bit of a shock. There, standing in the middle of the room were Alice and another girl…Snogging

I swiftly shut the door and regretted it when I heard voices from inside and someone coming to the door. Alice opened the door and without a word dragged me in and dumped me in a chair. "How much of that did you see?" She questioned like an interrogator.

I managed to get a good look at the other girl who was sitting on the desk, swinging her legs over the desk staring at Alice. It took me a little bit but I recognized her, she was America's sister, Amelia. "N-nothing!" I stuttered out blushing wildly, I wasn't a good liar.

She tilted her head to the side, scowled at me and repeated the question "How much DID you see?" She demanded sticking her face so close to mine I swear I could see every follicle that made up here eyebrows, which were surprisingly not as bushy as Arthur's.

Amelia jumped off the desk and skipped over to us. "Come on Alice! Don't be so mean to her, she may or may not have seen anything but that doesn't mean you can be so mean to her!" Amelia semi-whined at Alice and the British girl diverted her eyes from the death gaze she was giving me to look at Amelia.

"And anyway!" Continued the bubbly American, "So she won't talk, I will ask her one question." And then she smiled with a smile that looked slightly demonic and I am not sure, but I swear I could see fire in those eyes. Whatever the question was, I wouldn't like it.

Alice groaned and walked towards her 'friend'. "Do you have to? Every time you ask that question it breaks my heart when they don't give you the answer I want!" She whined at Amelia but she wasn't paying attention.

Amelia walked up to me and looked me in the eye. "Are you Bi and/or have you EVER kissed a girl?" That hit me like a brick, WHAT kind of question was that? I shook my head very quickly and grimaced.

Amelia pouted, "Would you like to?" Mother of god! What the bloody hell are they going to do? I've never really questioned my sexual preferences but this is ludicrous! Hangon, I just realized the easy way out.

"You were only asking me on question, and I gave my answer. I'm outta here." And with that I marched to the door to try and find someone else to bother. But before I could get to the door Amelia grabbed my arm and pulled me so close I could smell her breath, which was a feint smell of hamburger meat.

"Promise you won't tell ANYONE, especially Bro or Arthur?" I nodded feebly and slowly turned away and left the room.

With THAT out of the way I guess I should find out more about Prussia, he's not a country anymore but he still works here. I'd like to know why and what is up with those red eyes! I looked about and managed to find his office, which was also Hungary's and Austria's.

I knocked on the door and when I heard someone say come in I opened the door. I was greeted by a beaming Hungary who was wearing a dress that showed off quite a bit of chest, which was odd, from the photo's I was given she didn't look like she had much in front. Must be what she wears.

I was ushered in and offered tea after I was sat down and about a metre or so in front of me was bespectacled man I think was Austria. He had rather large brown eyes and Jet black hair and there was an air to him that just screamed that he meant business.

"So, you are the offspring of Romano yes?" he was quick, sharp, precise and to the point. He would never be caught making small talk or doing anything 'fun' in my opinion. I gave a quick nod and looked at him but avoided his sharp gaze.

"I was actually here to speak with Prussia if that's okay with you Mr Austria." I let out quietly.

Despite the lack of volume I used in my speech I was surprised to find that he had heard me perfectly. "Of course, but do be careful, he's a bit of narcissist." Then he did the impossible, he smiled, it wasn't much but he smiled.

Hungary walked me into another room and at a desk lazily sat a boy with white hair and red eyes. He sat with his legs on the desk in a lazy cross-legged style and he seemed rather bored, flicking hastily through the pages of a book.

When he saw me and Miss Hungary walk in he seemed to light up like a Christmas tree and almost broke my hand in what had to be, the most vicious handshake I ever had the misfortune of having. "So! To what do I, the awesome Prussia, owe the pleasure of such a handsome lady like yourself?"

His speech style took me off guard; he actually seemed like a gentleman for the most part. I sat down in a chair and he sat on the arm of it. "Umm, I was bored, and I was curious as to why your hair is white… And why your eyes are so cool!"

I probably should have avoided talking about him in front of him but Prussia's eyes were just so cool! I was wondering why he was like this when I first saw his photo, apparently Prussia is no longer a country, so is that what happens when you are no longer a country?

"Kessesese… Well, my eyes are pretty awesome! But they're nothing special, I'm an albino, that is also why my hair is such an awesome white!" He smiled and sat back down in his own chair. "But what **I**, the awesome Prussia want to know is… Why do you have a curl, and what does it do?"

I grimaced, I was really uncertain as to share this info with him. I mean, dad had told me EXACTLY what it was… "I'd rather not say…"

He smiled "That's cool, though not awesome like me, but still cool." And he stood up "Don't you have other people to visit, maybe England?" He asked with a smirk on his face. He almost scooted me out of the room and just before he closed the door behind me he tapped me on the butt.

I turned around to try and slap him but in his place was a firmly closed door. I scowled, once again, not liking having to, and thought about where to go next. I guessed I would see Uncle Italy; I hadn't spoken to him in a while so I set off in the direction I figured would lead me to his office.

I managed to find his office, after going in the WRONG direction to begin with, so much for my sense of direction. When I was about to open the door I could hear strange noises coming from inside. I won't go into specifics but I could definitely hear Ludwig in there as well…Nuf said.

So I went back to Papa's office and sat down in a chair. He barely looked up from his desk and went back to his papers. Speaking of papers, when I sat down, I could feel something in my back pocket, Prussia you sly bastardo.

I took out the note, unfolded it and began to read.

_Having an awesome party tonight here at the U.N building, everyone usually stays here for at least a day anyway. Plenty of people coming, was hoping you'd join us._

_ Prussia the Awesome!_

I smiled, I guess I could if everyone stays here overnight with the work, but I better ask Papa Romano first.

Apparently he saw me with the note and somehow (I think psychically) read it. "Yes, you can go. We usually just have a few games and contests. There WILL be alcohol but I trust you will be smart enough to avoid it eh?"

I smiled and nodded, I guess it would be fun; I mean, what's the worst that could happen?


	11. Chapter 11

The wait for nightfall was agonizing; I had literally nothing to do. But eventually the sun set, from out the window I could see the gentle orange and purple of the sun going over the horizon.

Everyone had gathered in the conference room with the exception of Germany, England and America. They arrived later, America came with food aplenty; including the alcohol I wasn't allowed to touch.

Germany brought in a karaoke set and a TV. Oh boy! I liked singing, I wasn't too good in my opinion but I still could sing. I hoped they had some good songs on there.

Then England brought in a cupboard, what was he going to do, send us to Narnia? America emptied a bottle and asked everyone to sit in a circle. Then it hit me, so THAT was what the cupboard was for! I hoped and prayed that I wouldn't have to play that game but I didn't get my hopes too high.

America sat the bottle in the middle of the circle and clapped his hands together. "Alright dudes and dudettes!" He exclaimed loudly. In the circle was: France, Prussia, Germany, Italy, Austria (Oddly enough), Hungary, England, Japan, Me, Russia and of course America.

America span the bottle and it span for what seemed like ages, or like everything was happening in slow mo. Eventually it stopped, pointing at a now rather nervous Austria. "Oh alright Austria! Truth or Dare bro?" America asked.

Austria thought about it for a little before clearing his throat. "Truth, I have never been good with tasks like the ones you are most undoubtedly thinking of. Also, do they have to be Yes or No questions?"

America rubbed his hands together mischievously. "Nope, anything goes. So, Austria… Who do you have a crush on?" Austria paled and scratched his chin. "Punishments are also in order for those who refuse to answer questions or complete their given dares!" America added on the side.

And as if by magic he pulled something disturbing from his bomber jacket. It was a pair of neon pink lingerie, it looked hideous, but imagine how bad it would look on Austria, whose face had gone as pale as a bedsheet.

"Hungary!" He blurted out without a second thought. It didn't surprise me one bit, the two go along so well and had lived together for so long it was more of a surprise why they had not gotten together already.

Hungary herself blushed something shocking and switched places with me so she could sit next to him and a few moments later America span the bottle again. Once again it felt like an eternity but eventually the bottle came to a halt pointing at Germany, who now looked like he was going to feint.

"Mein got, ziss von't end vell." He mumbled and he looked to America who was to ask the question.

"Alright Germany! Truth or dare dude?" the light glinted off his glasses like a game show host.

Germany looked like he was tossing between either choice, but after a few seconds he let out a decisive grunt followed by "Dare".

"Yes! Okay Germany dude, I dare you to kiss Italy!" shouted Alfred.

My dad shouted from over the room, he was standing with Belgium for some reason. "Which Italy Bastardo?" he asked bluntly.

America seemed to ignore his question though and stared at Germany, waiting to see whether he would chicken out. Germany turned to Italy who was next to him and he grabbed him by the collar. "Oh vat ze hell!" he exclaimed and snogged Uncle Feli, making quite a few of us, including me, blush.

This kiss lasted a little longer it should have and America, easily bored as he was, wanted to change the subject. "Alright Dudes and Dudettes, it's time for a brief break with some karaoke!"

Everyone was seated in front of the TV America had set up and two microphones sat on the floor in front of it. I didn't really want to sing, but it would probably be better than any of the dares anyone could come up with. The strange thing was, no one wanted to sing, except for America but he refused to go first!

Then and there my hand shot up and almost instantly America was next to me. "Alright Christina!" he grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me over to one of the mics. "Okay, so is it gonna be a solo or a duet?" America quizzed the almost shy bunch sitting in front of him.

Once again the silence was that bad that if a dustbowl rolled past I don't think anyone would have even batted an eyelid. "Oh, so it's a solo! Let's get this party started then!" he exclaimed and set it to a random song.

I saw the names of various songs flicker and roll past on the screen until it finally settled on a song: Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up. I couldn't resist a laugh "2006 called, it wants its punch line back!" I exclaim before rolling my neck, ready to sing.

I'm not gonna describe my singing experience, for the best of everyone. Other than myself I think two others took a turn to sing. Surprisingly the first was England, he got: It's a small world after all. Much to the dismay of everyone else, Arthur's singing was brilliant though.

The second to sing was Belgium, mother of pearl did she know how to sing. The first thing she did was take the band out of her hair, letting it flow down her back and flicked it a little. Then she stood in front of the screen, waiting for her song to show itself.

It did not take long, far less than mine, or maybe it was the same time, it felt like longer for me. Anyway, her song came up and you'd never guess what it was: Tiny Glowing Screens by Watsky. (Look it up, he does great music! Channel name is GWatsky, his real name is George Watsky)

Now I've heard good singing but hers surpassed that by a mile, it was like a chorus of angels with a symphony of strings and it was clear that I was not the only one enjoying her singing. Papa Romano sat there mesmerized and blushing, I guess there's something going on between those two.

After that brief interlude we had a few snacks and I had a few glasses of Orange Juice, thank god, I was starting to think I'd pass out from lack of it, because as I have mentioned before and I will mention again, it's my life fuel (Not literally of course).

Okay, now that everyone had a few drinks, aside from me of course, we continued with our game of spin the bottle. I'll say this, I'm not looking forward to it, since everyone is a few steps closer to drunk then the dares and questions will certainly be more unusual and possibly erotic; let's hope it doesn't go that far…


	12. Chapter 12

I was wrong about something, I wasn't the only completely 100% sober. No, apparently Kiku was also untouched by the alcohol, I asked him why and he sighed and replied with "There is no Sake, I disrike the other beverages, so unress there is some Sake, then I won't touch a drop."

I couldn't help but smile at that comment; I guess everyone has their tastes. Anyway, back to the issue at hand, a game of spin the bottle that will most likely end badly. The bottle was spun again and it seemed to hang in between France and England before finally halting in front of the Brit.

"Alright right Britain dude! Truth or Dare?" America asked almost sinisterly.

"D-dare, no way am I telling you anything that you would ask me." Iggy said as quickly as he dared.

America took off his glasses and looked him in the eyes, an inch away from his face and grinned. "I dare you to have a drinking contest with Prussia…" he said with a chilling and creepy voice.

England gulped, but then nodded, standing up and walking over to a table; sitting down on a stool, in front a keg of beer.

Prussia followed suit and sat next to him, eyeing off the tankard on front of him. America signalled the pair and they quickly filled their tankards and chugged it down as fast as they dared.

One, two, three, four; I started to lose count after a few minutes and I simply sat there, looking at the two drinking, not slowing down, but England was starting to falter now, getting more sluggish as he continued to drink.

America walked back to the group of us still seated around the bottle and sat down with us. "This could take a while, lets spin the bottle again!" he exclaimed happily, it was rather obvious that he was enjoying this more than anyone else.

So the bottle began to spin and I felt a little dizzy focusing on it with all my mental power I willed with some luck that the bottle not land on me. To no avail apparently, as the bottle began to slow I felt a sense of dread building in the back of me and as the bottle finally halted I found it was pointing directly at me…

America put on the most twisted and sadistic smile I had ever seen and creeped close to me. "Well, since no one has decided to talk to the new girl, Truth or Dare?"

I had a feeling I would regret this but I nodded slowly and swallowed hard, sending out a very audible gulp. "D-dare." I stutter out, scared for the second time in so many days.

America stood up and nodded towards France and I realized what was happening before anyone else. "Okay dudette! I dare you to play Seven Minutes in Heaven with France!" he exclaimed with more enthusiasm than I thought was necessary.

I swear Papa heard every single word that was spoken the moment the bottle landed on me from the other side of the room. He bonded over as fast as he could, roaring with many Italian expletives. "Oh no you don't! THERE IS ABSOULUTELY NO WAY I WILL LET YOU DO THIS!" he shouted at America, who by the way, was a foot away from him.

"Sorry dude, can't hear over the sound of how awesome I am!" he said chuckling as Prussia looked up at the mention of the A word.

"Not as Awesome as me!" he called, his hand on England's back, the other holding a full tankard aloft in the air.

"Or," continued the American, "we could have her wear the punishment item for failing to complete a dare?" he asked with an innocent voice, holding the lingerie and waving it slowly in front of Papa.

Papa scowled, "Bene, she can do it, but only seven minutes you hear! And France, nothing too serious or I will personally ensure that you can't do it again!" he yelled, grabbing a knife from nearby and gesturing to France's waist.

America smiled and ushered France and I over to the cabinet, unlocking it with an old key, herding us in and locking it shut behind us.

It was rather cramped but I managed to get some distance from the smiling Frenchman in front of me. "s-so, France…" I started.

He merely put a finger to my lips and whispered, "Don't be so formal Ma Cherie, call me Francis."

"O-okay" I stuttered out, moving his finger from my lips.

"So, Christina is it? Have you never been kissed before?" he asked sweetly, and I could swear he genuinely cared about not taking this too far.

"W-well, no n-not really." I really didn't feel like talking and my face was rather pink.

"Oh? Who was your first?" he questioned, his voice sounding so sweet, like a string chorus dipped in honey Mmm, honey…Stop it! Now is NOT the time to get hungry!

I turned away and whispered as quiet as I could "Ki-Japan…It was Japan."

He smiled again and leaned closer to me. "Well isn't that sweet, now let me show you how a professional goes about it." He said and smashed his lips against mine, my eyes flinging open in surprise.

"Mmmf!" was about all I could get out. He started tugging at my bottom lip, putting his hands either side of my head, leaning closer.

I blinked a couple of times, trying to register the full extent of what was happening but without success. The blinding rush of sudden confusion and pleasure were new to me and I simply leaned forward slightly, not realizing what I was doing.

He grinned a broad smile that I thought would outdo the Cheshire Cat as he tried to worm his tongue in slowly. My first instinct was to pull away but as he started to tug at my lip again I relaxed, his tongue suddenly made its way into my mouth and I found myself trying to fight for supremacy.

Of course this was absolutely futile as the far superior kisser dominated my tongue with his own. He finally pulled away and I heaved in a breath, not realizing how much effort that took.

"Ohohoh, you are quite the romancer, are you SURE you have only been kissed once before?" he asked, now with a more suave and seductive voice.

All I could manage was a shy nod as he placed his head on my shoulder and I let out a sigh of relief. "H-how long has it been?" I asked.

He looked at his watch and smiled, "Only two minutes Ma Cherie." He replied and began to tug at my earlobe with his lips. All I could do was let out the tiniest gasp as he ran his hands up and down me, occasionally tugging teasingly at my clothes.

As I shut my eyes and leaned closer to him he moved his lips down to my neck and began planting kisses on it. Unable to hold back I let out a sharp gasp and squirmed slightly. "Sensitive there are we?" he asked, his voice becoming more and more beautiful.

"A little." Was all I could say as he continued to kiss there as my face got redder and redder. Without warning he bit my neck softly, sending a rush of pleasure through me and I could not hold back a quiet moan.

"Nnnn, F-Francis…" Was all I could muster as he looked me in the eyes, his hands slowly removing my top, exposing my chest, its only protection from him was the pink bra that was about the colour of my face.

He wrapped his arms around me and locked me in another lengthy kiss. "It has only been three minutes my dear, let me please you…" he whispered in my ear as I nodded slowly, my eyes held shut.

His hands began to move behind my back and I could feel him undoing my bra as I shrunk slowly downwards and he followed. "F-Francis, p-please, don't do this, d-don't take it too far." I whimpered softly as he continued to kiss me, pulling off my bra in one swift motion.

I closed my eyes again and held them shut as I felt his tongue on my nipple, unable to hold back I let out a few squeaks and soft moans as he began to suck on it and flick it with his tongue while one of his hands played with my other breast.

"Unnnh, F-Francis!" I let out as loud as I dared while France kept toying with me, licking at my now hardened nipples before biting them softly. "Ah!" I gasped as the waves of pleasure flooded me and I did not want it to stop.

Suddenly I could hear a distinct beeping and Francis glanced to the watch on his wrist. "Oh, time is up Ma Cherie. You had nothing to worry about, I had full control of the situation; besides, I would never spoil you for Kiku!" he said with a happy expression and I realized that my face had gone an extremely dark crimson.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me, but do try and flirt with him a bit more, or things will get nowhere!" he said grinning while he handed me my top.


	13. Chapter 13

I hastily put on my top and I just managed to get both it and my bra on before the door opened. The moment I could see past France was the moment Papa Romano grabbed him by the collar and threw at least a metre.

"YOU BASTARD! FOURTEEN MINUTES! YOU WERE IN THEIR TWICE AS LONG AND THE WORST PART WAS YOU STOLE THE KEY FROM AMERICA!" he shouted at the wide eyed Frenchman who looked to me for a split second with a look of concern and then back to Papa.

"Who said I _stole_ the key?" asked Francis smugly.

Papa Romano's furious eyes turned to America, who was supervising the 'drinking contest', or what was left of it. England had passed out and Prussia was hunched over the table, looking sad.

"SO YOU _GAVE_ HIM THE KEY?!" he barked at Alfred, who turned to face him slowly.

"Wh-wha? Dude I am soooo drunk!" he giggled and stumbled.

Papa simply walked over to me, grabbed me by the shoulders and started walking me out of there, out the double doors and into the car we went, once again unsure how we ended up outside such a rundown building and driven home in the dark, without incident thank goodness.

We all retreated to our rooms in a dizzy haze, or maybe that was just me… I fell on top of the bed, feebly trying to pull the covers over me, without much success. I was about to fall asleep before Papa walked in and turned the light on.

"P-papa, what do you want?" I asked tiredly. I suppose I shouldn't have needed to ask, it was kinda obvious what he was here about, he wanted to talk about what happened between me and France during the party.

"I was hoping you could enlighten me as to what you and Francis were doing in that cupboard…" he said as deadpan as possible, but his face betrayed him. As far as I could tell it was riddled with anxiety and a minor amount of panic.

"Aw come on dad, you should know never to kiss and tell!' I said teasingly, my mistake apparently because he grabbed my wrist and looked me in the eye, with a stare that could turn you to stone.

"What did he do?!" he asked me again, with a lot more force in his voice.

"N-nothing! N-nothing that bad Dad, he didn't go any further than my chest I swear!" I blurted out.

His face seemed to calm down a little but I had a good feeling that wouldn't be the only question he would be asking. "Alright, did he hurt you at all?"

I slowly brought my hand to my neck and rubbed it slowly; covering up the tiny bruise Francis gave me when he bit my neck. "Nope."

He smiled softly and pulled the covers over me, tucking me in. "Alright, sorry about that, it's just I don't want you throwing something important to me so recklessly especially with someone like France." And with that, he left the room, turning out the light and letting me sleep.

The morning started somewhat pleasantly, I half expected to have that annoying alarm clock ray of light that peeked through my curtains at home at around 6:30 in the morning, only to realize I wasn't home.

Well, technically I was, just not my first home, speaking of which, I can't believe how easy it has been to settle in here, after a few days I'm still getting lost, but it still feels like home. Anyway, I sat up in bed, and looked across the room, at the grandfather clock that was directly opposite my bed and after a bit of squinting, I found the time was actually around 9'ish…Wow.

Without delay I walked at a brisk pace into the bathroom, threw off my clothes and lowered myself slowly into the bath. I think I was there about an hour, I didn't care, I don't think I had business I needed doing, regarding countries or otherwise.

I simply floated there, face up in the pool like tub and floated almost in the middle, turning slowly in a lazy circle, blissfully unaware of the rest of my surroundings. The steam rolled across my line of sight, across the ceiling and the space between it and me while I floated there smiling.

**Japan's POV**

Well, I suppose I should have a bath, but the one in my room doesn't work as well as I would have hoped, there has got to be a better one somewhere…Hang on, Christina's room had a rather large one just across from it, I think was a connecting door in the adjacent room.

Perhaps if I moved there it would make things easier for me, and maybe it would improve my chances with Christina. But then again, maybe not, after what happened with France I'm doubtful if I'll be able to charm her after she's spent any amount of time with him…

I reached the room which was next to Christina's; I knocked on the door and waited, no response. I cautiously opened the door and peered inside…Empty, letting out a small smile I went in and looked about.

It was a nice room, filled with Chinese posters, symbols, vases and the occasional damaged British flag. It did not take me long to figure whose room this used to be: Hong Kong. But why would he have lived here? This place belongs to my friend Italy, how did Hong Kong get here?

I blinked, not wanting to think about it too long I stealthily moved my things into this room, taking down the Chinese posters, replacing them with the Anime posters from my room. I left the British posters and patched them up a bit; after all, I would not want to insult my friend England.

After I had all the room details sorted I decided I had earned a long bath; so I slipped on a bathrobe and opened the door into the 'bathroom' or whatever you wanted to call it, it looked more like a sauna to me.

The room was pleasant enough; the walls and ceiling were the usual white, with white stone pillars dotted around the room and a hazy fog of steam that rolled across the room, obscuring my vision of the pool.

I made my way across to the pools edge and the fog cleared slightly and I took a few steps back, realizing that someone else was here, it was Christina…

My blood started rushing and began to drip slowly from my nose as she simply floated there naked in the middle of the pool. I wanted to turn my head a look away so I could leave, but I couldn't, she was just so beautiful I couldn't help but gaze at her…Then she saw me.


	14. Chapter 14

**Japan's POV**

Our eyes meet and we both panicked, she flung her arms over her body, covering herself up and I believe I feinted, I don't remember anything except a sharp pain on the back of the head and the blood dripping from my nose.

**Christina's POV**

I was having such a relaxing time, not a care in the world really; the feeling of the water around me and the steam giving off a calming haze with my vision. I opened my eyes to find out the time, but the steam was obscuring the clock, so I just waited, floating there on my back and slowly but surely the fog rolled away from the clock.

The clock was not the only thing I could see, Kiku was also there standing in front of me wearing nothing but a bathrobe! His face went red and his nose started to bleed and I remembered I wasn't wearing anything; my hands flung over my chest and waist, covering as much up as possible while Kiku fell backwards and hit his head on one of the pillars.

I quickly got out of the pool and wrapped a towel around me before going back to Kiku. He didn't look too bad, there was a pool of blood around his head but that was probably from his nose, it was really flowing!

I found a washcloth, soaked it in cold water and clamped it to his nose, slowly but surely stopping the bleeding from his nose. Then I got another towel and mopped up the blood around him. I looked at him and I couldn't help but smile at him.

He was adorable and quite good looking I must say, but it was his attitude that caught my attention. Always polite when needed, never does anything that he knows he'll regret and he gets a nosebleed from seeing anything erotic, ha!

But the bleeding wasn't stopping, I took the washcloth off his nose and looked at it; it wasn't bleeding in the slightest so I slowly and regrettably turned his head to the side where I saw a gash on the back of his head that was steadily pumping out blood.

I gagged and looked away, wincing I looked back and swallowed, making sure I wouldn't throw up over him. It looked pretty bad and I wasn't even medically trained, looking about I found no other choice but to find help.

Without a second thought I dashed out into my room and out into the corridor. "HELP, HELP!" I called; hopefully someone would be able to hear me, otherwise Kiku could be in real trouble. Luckily Ludwig did and came around the corner before looking at me with a look of confusion and concern.

"Ch-Christina, vat iz it; And vhy are vearing notzing but a towel?" he asked cautiously.

"Kiku's hurt, come quickly!" I exclaimed, running back into the bathroom through my room. Ludwig followed in after and managed a sigh of relief yet still with a concerned face when he saw Kiku.

He looked him over, examining the wound on the back of Japan's head with a little more proximity than I would have done myself but nonetheless he was doing more than I did. "Vell, I can stop the bleeding but he is going to need stitches, something I can't do, ve may need to take him to a Doktor."

All I could do was nod in agreement and do as he told me to, such as keeping pressure on a damp washcloth on the back of Kiku's head or trying to find bandages, without success though. Ludwig managed to find some, after what seemed like the most anxious minute and a half of my life, watching the cloth in my hands get redder and redder while Kiku showed no signs of moving other than a shallow breathing I could feel on my wrist.

After Ludwig got the bandages wrapped around Japan's head I sat back sighing heavily, only to realize it was 11, or there abouts. Closing my eyes I felt a little better, knowing that Kiku was going to be fine but when I opened them again Ludwig was in front of me, looking me in the eyes.

"Are you alright Christina? I know zhat vasn't ze easiest thing to look at, but he is going to be fine, but we need to lay him down and let him sleep."

I nodded softly, "He can use my bed." I say softly as Ludwig carefully picked Kiku up and carried into my room and laid him down on my bed, after Ludwig left the room to phone the hospital I sat on the edge of my bed, looking at the Japanese boy in front of me.

"Get well soon Kiku." I whispered in his ear before pulling the covers over him and walking out of my room and made my way to the kitchen for some food.

As I entered the kitchen I found Dad sitting at the table, wearing a baggy sleep shirt and his suit trousers, quite an odd combo. He acknowledged my presence with a nod and as I sat down with a glass of juice and some crumpets with butter and jam he spoke.

"I heard about what happened to Kiku and I've called a good doctor for him, he'll be fine. Also, I've given it some thought I guess you should be eligible…" Eligible for what? I wonder… "Now I guess you wondering _what_ it could be," he continued, as if reading my mind.

"I want you to become a city. Not quite a country but at least it works. Among those that currently exist are Venice, Atlantis, London and I THINK Kowloon." He finished, breathing a small sigh of relief.

Now of course I was going to accept, why wouldn't I? But I thought the big question was, which city would I be…Rome? Tuscany/San Giamangio? Forli? But of course the penny dropped, the biggest penny ever that landed into a room specifically designed to test echolocation.

"Florence?" I asked softly.

He smiled and ruffled my hair. "Si, Firenze."

I took his hand away from my head before he got too close to my curl and gulped down the last of my glass of orange juice in one swallow. "So, how does it work? Is there some sort of ceremony and what is the difference between a country and a city?"

It seems Papa saw these questions coming and simply waved a hand. "It's already been done, the moment you said Firenze I made it happen, now as for your other questions; you are life bound to Florence, if it burns, you do to. You CAN die, but you are significantly tougher than the average human, also breaking bones won't a problem, the healing process has been sped up by at least720% I think. Also, if your country dies there is a high chance you might too, so take care of Uncle Feli eh?"

It was quite a bit of info to take in at once but it's not the first time something like this has happened. Next he walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a small flip open simple ID pass. Black all over except the white slip of paper where the ID card was supposed to go.

"Psychic paper?" I asked raising an eyebrow at the blank piece of paper.

Papa frowned and groaned at the same time. "You've been spending too much time with England haven't you?" he asked curiously.

"No Papa, I just love Doctor Who! Well that and other British things…I swear!"

"Alright, I believe you, anyway," he continued pulling out another one from his pocket, this one had my face on it, and a bunch of other obscure details you couldn't read without squinting. Also next to my picture was the icon for the United Nations.

"this can get you flown to any country in the world, cost free unless of course you misplace it, but I hope you don't. Also, while it may get you into any country in the world, it won't get you anywhere in particular other than the building that reps the U.N in that country. So, any ideas where you want to go first?"

He held out a blue board pin and walked me into the lounge style area with the fireplace. On one of the walls was a world map with text above it saying: Around the world in 80 days, more or less.

I couldn't help but smile, and of course I had a place in mind, I reached forward and stuck the pin on the place I wished to go, London, England.


	15. Chapter 15

I turned to face my Dad, he had a smile on his face. "A little predictable but nonetheless a good choice…Oh speaking of England, we're turning this place into the new U.N building in Italy. Most of the countries will be staying here for about a month or two before travelling to the next country on the list.

England and a few of his countries should be arriving tomorrow and after all the necessary introductions are made Arthur will be heading back home for about a week before returning to Italy, you might be able to tag along with him and get the VIP tour eh?"

My eyes widened at the sudden escalation of events, first I find out that I can travel anywhere in the world, choose a destination only to find out the rest of the world was coming to me? Well, if that doesn't give you something to think about I don't know what will.

But I do hope Kiku is up and about before the majority of the others arrive, it wouldn't look too good for him otherwise, especially having to explain how he got injured. Speaking of arrivals I heard the main door knock and I rushed down to find Uncle Feli at the door greeting Greece, who was wearing his usual baggy white shirt and brown trousers with his customary dozy look.

I simply stood there, my arms resting on the banisters and my hand on my cheeks as I looked down at the main entrance, wondering who would be next and waiting for them to show up. Next came China, with his panda of course…Which turned out to be Russia in disguise.

Right behind them was of course, Belarus and Ukraine, never far behind their brother.

I lost my balance and I swear I would have fallen over the railing if I hadn't a keen sense of agility. Taiwan followed by Vietnam walked in next, I have to say, Taiwan was quite good looking, Vietnam the same but a little more timid and slightly shy.

Then in came someone I didn't recognize, entering with Turkey I had to wait for Uncle Italy to say his name, Egypt. There were quite a few people arriving considering I had only been told five minutes ago, then again they all probably knew weeks in advance.

America was next, followed by his sister Amelia, no sign of Alice though oddly enough. More countries I didn't recognize, Mexico, Cuba and Haiti apparently. I waited for another few minutes with no new arrivals until I was tapped on the shoulder and I almost had a heart attack.

"Merda!" I exclaimed as I jumped and turned in mid-air, now facing a slightly scared Canada. "Oh it's you Canada; I didn't see you come in!"

He sighed "I came in with America…And please, call me Matthew." He said politely.

"Oh, okay, Matthew then. Expecting anyone else to show up yet? I haven't seen England or Spain yet."

He shook his head and started to walk away "Noone has seen Spain, ever since you showed up he's gone off the grid, not even a flirty little letter to your Dad."

That was strange, Dad constantly talked about Spain when we had time to talk, always saying how he brought him up, and even flirted with him heavily once he was older. But apparently once he found out about me he vanished?

My guess it has something to do with the fact that Papa was 'unfaithful' to Antonio. But the two weren't in love, well Spain was but it was more of a one-sided love and with the mention that Papa had a wife for a few years would have driven him over and broke his heart.

Well that's my professional opinion, Christina Michelangelo Vargas, PhD in all things love, yeah right. But still there was a high chance I was right, maybe I would postpone my trip to England to find him, I guess that would be for the best…

I walked downstairs waving hi to Uncle Feli as I made my way over to the map and removed the pin from England and stuck it on Madrid, the capital of Spain. There was also a small container of similar pins below the map on a small shelf, guess he wanted me to show wherever I'd been or planned to go.

The pins for where I was going were blue while the ones where I had gone were pink and there was also a small handful of green pins, labelled U.N Issue, obviously to tell me where any upcoming meetings were.

I took my ID, flipped it open and looked at it. The picture looked a little older than how I looked now, about 2 years younger than me. I guess Mum sent him a picture of me. Anyways I rushed upstairs to my room and quietly opened the door, to find Kiku sound asleep in my bed, covers tucked neatly up to his neck and his head sticking out the top on top of the pillows.

I sighed and began to pack a suitcase full of some casual clothes and quickly got changed into my suit, giving a quick glance beforehand at Kiku to make sure he was still asleep. After finishing that I grabbed the case and dashed downstairs, giving Uncle Feli a hug.

"Hey Uncle, could you give me a lift to the airport?" I asked sweetly, putting on my best puppy dog eyes.

He smiled brightly and hugged me back. "Of course Christina! Where are you headed?" he asked curiously.

"Spain." A simple and short reply, nothing else needed to be said.

"Ah I see, going to find Antonio are we?" he acknowledged with a sly wink which I countered with a roll of my eyes. "I can do one better actually." He said taking out a wallet. "It's got cards for any country in the world, about $2500 in each currency, it also has change and whatnot in old fashioned Florin Coins, just don't throw them on the ground for a distraction eh?"

I chuckled, I had no idea he played Assassins Creed, turns out he loved it, one of the top players for the multiplayer in the world, under the alias: PastaLovr1.

I took the wallet and slipped it in my trouser pocket as he and I walked out to his car and got in. It didn't take long to get to the airport and I was near the gate in minutes. A young man, about 22 years old was working there and he recognized me immediately.

"Ah Madonna!" he called out to me and I walked over to him. "I'm Niccolo, a good friend of your Uncle's. He's told me a bit about you and might I say, you're better looking in the flesh!" I couldn't help but giggle quietly and blush at his compliment but it appeared he had more to say.

""Might I be the first to welcome you to the United Nations! Anyway, where are you headed?" he asked politely, gesturing to his computer.

"Oh! I'm headed to Spain, Madrid to be precise." I blurted out quickly.

"Ah, I'll phone ahead, let them now you are coming, enjoy your flight!" he said cheerily, handing me a piece of paper and my ticket. It took me a few minutes but I found the flight I was on and apparently I was in first class.

Considering I had never flown ANYWHERE before I was a bit nervous about it. Turns out I wasn't alone, there was an old woman and her young charge, about 19 years old, with blonde pigtails, similar to Alice but her eyes were brown like mine instead and she didn't wear glasses.

First class was rather empty though, not many people other than the two I mentioned. It took me awhile but as the sun began to set I couldn't help but feel sleepy, I was going to need it, avoiding jetlag as much as possible and I would need all the energy I could muster to find Spain…


	16. Chapter 16

Apparently the plane had touched down at some point I was awoken by a tiny jolt. We had landed briefly in France to let off and gain more passengers, the next stop would be Madrid. So after a brief snack and glass of OJ, thank goodness they had some.

I sat down in my seat to find that the one that was next to mine was now occupied by a sleeping blonde man with a magazine on his face. I sat down as quietly as I could, as not to disturb the man but the moment I my bottom touched the material he was instantly awake and the magazine fell off his face.

It was France…Brilliant. And of course that was sarcasm; I have a bit of a habit making sarcasm sound like I mean it, such a pain. Anyway he saw me and for a few seconds he simply sat there staring at me.

"Ma Cherie? Of course it is you!" he said, putting a few fingers to his forehead. "What are you doing here, where are you heading?" he asked sweetly, that suave voice of his always present.

"W-well, I'm heading over to Madrid to find out what has happened to Spain." I responded, blushing very faintly.

He smiled, smoothing back his hair a bit. "Ah of course, nobody has heard from Antonio in a while, ever since y-", he stopped mid-sentence and looked like he wanted to say it but forgot it was me he was talking to.

"Ever since what?" I questioned, almost demanding.

He chuckled and looked me in the eyes again. "Normally I would love to tell you, gossip is my thing, but I couldn't, not for poor Antonio…" he looked slightly sad, but then his cheer demeanour surfaced once more.

I sighed then realized something. "What are you doing here?" I questioned him, poking him in the chest.

His face lit up like he had remembered something, and been hit by a brick. "Oh! I was on my way to Italy to your Papa's place, you know, everyone else is and I couldn't help but tag along, but since we are on the same flight to Madrid, would you mind if I joined you on your search for our Spaniard friend?" he asked, smiling sweetly.

Normally I would have said no immediately, normally I would have done some witty retort or some sarcastic remark but I could find nothing wrong with him accompanying me, aside from the obvious fact that he is probably a Nymphomaniac.

So against my better judgement, and my sanity, which would eventually dwindle with all the craziness him and his friends caused by my guess, I decided to let him join me with a polite "No, I think that would be fine."

With that a few minutes later the plane took off and we were now on our way to one of the biggest cities in Spain. I didn't want to fall asleep because of Francis next to me, but I really needed a nap so against my better judgement I let out a yawn.

"Oh, tired Ma Cherie? Come, rest your head on my shoulder, I don't bite, unless you want me to." He said quietly in my ear. I softly rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. Then I felt something on top of my head, I flung my eyes open to find he had rested his head on top of mine.

Letting out a quiet sigh I decided to go to sleep, my eyelids refused to stay open and every time I opened my mouth I let out a long yawn. But before I went into full unconsciousness I could feel his hand running smoothly through my hair.

As long as he didn't touch the curl everything would be fine, I just hope he knows what it is, or maybe I don't…

I woke up at some point, I couldn't tell when though, but the plane hadn't landed yet. France was still next to me, asleep now though, his hand still in my hair, an inch from the curl. I didn't panic, he wasn't awake and wasn't moving, however, we both had moved and his head was now on my shoulder.

For some reason he had a nice smell to him, wine and roses, with a hint of something else that took a while for me to recognize: Country Air. So despite the fact he spends most of his time in the city, he still spends a bit of time in the country? Interesting…

Maybe he has scented clothes, agh, I really need to stop thinking about these things that have nothing to do with my current situation, it's really distracting.

I remained awake for the remainder of the flight and by the time we touched down at one of the Madrid Airports Francis was also awake and we were discussing out plan for finding Antonio. "Okay Christina, we should check here," he said, pointing to a spot on a map he drawn from one of his bags; from what I could tell, it was a large market square with a large fountain in the centre.

"if that doesn't work we'll go to his house, here, it's a fairly nice place, pretty big too, I've only been there once or twice though, I think he still has the wrestling ring that he had built for Mexico a while back…"

Francis continued to list possible scenarios of where Spain might be, but in my head all I could think about was WHY he had disappeared. Off the top of my head I could list at least three major reasons but, I guess we would just have to wait and find out.

We grabbed our stuff and departed the plane, proceeded to through the Airport itself and out into the Spanish afternoon. The heat wasn't as hot as I was expecting, and neither was the architecture. It showed major similarities to Italian buildings, but seeing as Antonio raised my Papa they would have to be much, much older.

Also, I could catch snippets of hurried Spanish conversation, with the native language here being the basis of Italian I could understand some of it, but not all. The structures were a brilliant blend of white and orange, not to mention the occasional splash of brown from dirt.

There were also plenty of banners, something about Barcelona, and pictures of bulls on them… Oh don't tell me! We arrived in time for the Running of The Bulls?! Sweet! Still, not much help if we don't find Antonio, his terrible mood might ruin the weather.

We walked about the square, darting my eyes to and fro, searching every stand and crowd for any sign of a miserable Spaniard. Then again, there was a high chance he would not even be outside, if I was in a depressed mood, I wouldn't even get out of bed!

Then I saw him, surprisingly not at home, or moping even. He was helping set up a fruit stand and attach more of the colourful banners to it. From what I could tell, he was extremely cheery, borderline overjoyed, but then again, being an Italian, I knew all about the cheeriness we share with the Spanish.

I called Francis over and we both walked at a brisk pace towards Antonio. As we drew closer France opened his mouth first. "Antonio! Mon Cher! Where have you been, we have all been worried sick looking for you!" he exclaimed sounding slightly worried, but I could tell he was as happy (and confused) as I was about finding him.

"F-Francis what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Italy right now, at Roman-"He stopped mid-sentence, I think me may have noticed me. Spain took a few tentative steps past France towards me and I took one nervous step back.

He just looked at me, his eyes wide and his mouth open slightly in an 'o' shape. "Y-you look just like him…The hair, your height and the fire in your eyes, those big, brown eyes… You MUST be Christina." He said in an almost whisper, about thirty centimetres separated out faces and I could see my reflection in his green eyes.

Getting a better look at him I could finally see what he was wearing. He wore a cream, button up shirt, baggy black trousers and brown sandals, with something round his neck on an old string that I couldn't see. Antonio took a step back and grabbed France around the shoulders. "So, you two hungry?" he asked with a broad smile on his face.

At the very mention of the H word my stomach growled viciously, traitor; then again I probably would have complained about being hungry in a minute anyway, so I end up nodding, as well as Francis.

"Okay then, follow me!" he called, already walking into the market square. "So, any of you two like tomatoes?" he asked over his shoulder before stopping and turning on his heel.

France shook his head but I loved tomatoes, right behind chocolate, cola and orange juice as my favourite foods. "Oh god yes." I let out without realizing what I had said.


	17. Chapter 17

Almost without warning a tomato sailed through the air in a neat arc and I caught it without any trouble. I looked back to see Spain giving a few coins to an elderly woman who appeared to run the stall the two stood at, both of them wearing big, friendly smiles.

I did a slow turn in a circle on the spot, just taking in the sights. There was always multiple people speaking at once at any given time, even I spoke and understood Spanish I would probably not be able to understand what was being said.

The houses were all different shapes and sizes, some barely a few feet in between and had wooden plank bridges from rooftop to rooftop or makeshift washing lines between windows and all of them a similar white with orange tile roof.

The air was warm and pleasant and there was barely a cloud in the sky, I could even see a beach from where I was standing. "This place is amazing…" I muttered under my breath but Spain heard, somehow…

"It is? I haven't noticed, too busy with other things, but now that most of the preparations have been finished I can kick back and spend time with some turtles or friends at the beach. And in a few days I'll be heading out to Barcelona to take part of the Running of The Bulls… Come to think of it, how long are you here for?" he asked curiously.

France gave a dismissive wave. "Not long I'm afraid, I have places to be, people to see and things to do, etcetera, etcetera." And with that he turned on his heel and started walking away the way we had come. "You two have fun!" he called over his shoulder.

Antonio waited till Francis was out of sight before turning to me. "So, what do you want to do first? Granted if you want to run with the bulls your will have to stay in Spain for at least a week so if you want to do that then I can have a room at my place ready in minutes!" he exclaimed cheerily.

That was a bit of info to take in, so I put my hand to my chin and thought about it for a minute, all the while Antonio looked at me with his content green eyes. A week in Spain, it sounded fun, but I had only clothes for a day or two, the dress and bikini I got for my birthday included.

But on the other hand, if I did stay I suppose I could get more clothes from shopping, Uncle Feli made sure I had money so the only question left is the one Antonio just asked: What to do first? "I have no idea what to do, any suggestions?"

Now it was his turn to think as he adopted a similar pose to me, a hand on his chin whilst he thought. It took him a bit longer than me to think of an answer and during that time I managed to finish off the tomato.

Finally he smiled slightly and put a hand on my shoulder. "Well, since you only just got here and you have your luggage, or what little of it there is, I suggest we make for my place, it is not far from here and I think you will like it!"

With that he walked me through the square while talking into a mobile phone; I heard something about a car, not much else, considering it was in rapid Spanish. Anyway, with the phone call sorted we stood on the curb of a busy street, waiting for a car that I had no idea of what it looked like.

It wasn't long but the car arrived, a silver Mercedes I think. Antonio took my bags and put them in the trunk while I climbed into the sweet air conditioned car…What? As much as I am used the warm weather in Italy, Spain is something else entirely! Spend too long outside in the wrong clothing and you could bake, in my case, a suit.

The drive took a bit longer than I thought it would but we finally arrived at Antonio's place. It was a decently large villa style building. The main building itself was essentially a wall in its own right, the building forming a rectangle around a central courtyard.

The building was a cream white, stained slightly with dirt and the same orange tiles from Madrid. There was not much in the way of vegetation around the building either, shrubs with a tinge of orange and brown here and there.

However inside the villa was a few smaller buildings and a large fountain in the centre surrounded by lush, green grass. We were atop a hill overlooking a small section of Madrid and I could distinctly tell where France and I had arrived.

I seemed to like Spain, the country that is, the land I mean! Geez, getting mixed up with countries and their human counterparts is going to get confusing in speech; at least they have names to make things easier.

Antonio showed me to my room, it was nice, a bit dull, with an arch window on the back wall, overlooking Madrid; a bed, A nice one, but not the most luxurious one available. But it bared a striking resemblance to mine at home.

Seriously, almost everything about it was identical, well except mine was more worn, this one seemed new, or at least rarely used. I sat my bags down in a corner and turned to face Antonio, who was leaning in the doorway.

"This used to be your fathers old room, well one of them. He had about three, switching every decade or so. This was his second room. If you don't like how it looks there are others, but I doubt it. Also, you can customize it anyway you want, just not the wall paint, we tried that once, let's just say it didn't work out well."

I couldn't help but chuckle at that comment. Spain seems so friendly, not flirty friendly like France and not over cheery like Uncle Italy. He was just happy; he seemed really nice and never really lost his temper. Well, at least not that I had seen.

Anyway, it was around 1 in the afternoon and I hadn't the faintest clue what to do. But there was a glint in Antonio's eyes that said he had a suggestion. It wasn't a ludicrous suggestion. He asked if I wanted to go to the beach, and almost without thinking I said yes.

I mean, why not? The weather was perfect, it was nowhere near dark and I hadn't tried on the bikini I had gotten for my birthday yet. So we agreed we would meet at the front door in five minutes. I got changed and was waiting for Antonio for about thirty seconds before he showed up.

"There you are! For a moment there I thought you had ditched me for a Brazilian model or something!" I said teasingly.

My results merited a heavy blush from Spain and a few blubbered words "Never." He said confidently as he opened the door, showing the Mercedes we arrived in still waiting outside. Now that he was wearing nothing but swimming trunks and sandals I could finally see what kind of necklace he was wearing.

It was a silver crucifix, very dull though, not shiny like I thought silver would be. As we got in the car he sat down and brought the cross to his forehead and murmured a quick prayer, or something along those lines. I couldn't understand what he had said because once again it was in rapid Spanish.

I suppose I could ask him to teach me but I don't think that would be necessary right now, maybe in a day or two. Anyway, the car seemed to be going faster this time and in almost no time at all we were parked on the curb next to a fantastic beach with a wind that had picked up from nowhere and nice, rolling waves.

As we got out of the car I caught a quick glance of Antonio checking me out and I gave him a raised eyebrow with folded arms. "What?" he asked with a light blush showing on his cheeks. "You are an attractive girl, that and the Italian flag keeps drawing my attention."

I shrugged; I guess the colours were a bit distracting. I took a cursory glance across the beach, looking at the varied types of people here; from tourists to natives, teens to elders, there was an almost a hundred on the beach.

But when I looked back at Antonio it looked like a light bulb had lit up over his head and he gleamed with an excited smile. "Ever been Kite surfing?" he asked eagerly.

I hadn't been kite surfing, but I HAD heard of it. I think it was like regular surfing but with a parachute styled kite that you use for momentum… I think. "No, but it sounds fun!" I replied cheerily.


	18. Chapter 18

I had been thinking about calling Antonio by a different name, a nickname or something shorter like Tony. But when I suggested it to him he laughed really loudly and when he calmed down he simply said: "We already have a Tony, he lives with America; you wouldn't believe him when you saw him though."

After that it took about five minutes to find someone with Kite Surfing equipment, thankfully they were open and with Antonio pulling some strings, we managed to get out on the waves in about 10 minutes.

I have to say, it's quite exciting stuff. Spain was pulling tricks mid-air like a pro, even getting so close to me to instruct me he could have kissed me..Umm, that is if I wanted him to… I know what you are thinking, and honestly I don't care, I don't have feelings for Antonio, he's sweet, but he hasn't flirted with me or anything like that and I'd prefer to keep it that way!

Erm, anyway…The waves seemed to be getting lower and lower, turns out I was just getting higher, thanks to my increasing skill. In half an hour I was doing flips and turns and tricks I can't pronounce with real grace, well according to Spain anyway.

We continued like this for another half an hour, roughly putting my time at the beach so far at 2 hours, give or take. Then disaster struck. In the middle of a flip one of the parachute strings snapped, lashing my wrist making me let go with one hand and then the other after I unexpectedly hit myself in the face with the injured hand from kickback.

I hit the ocean with a heavy splash, the board still secured to my feet and my eyes stuck shut. I could still see but there was no way I was opening them just yet, just a few more seconds of being underwater to adjust.

I opened my eyes and was treated to a blurred vision of almost crystal clear aqua water. Almost, my vision was blurred and a strange, powder like red was moving past my face. But powder doesn't work underwater so I instinctively looked to my right arm that was now seeping that same red substance.

Panicking, I tried bringing my arms to my feet to free them but with no luck, my right arm didn't want to move without a searing amount of white hot pain and my left wasn't as coordinated, especially in water.

I managed to shake my foot free though, my lungs felt like they were about to explode, my vision was blurring and darkening. I tried to claw my way to the surface but it felt like it was only getting further…

When my hearing returned I could hear quite a few voices, obviously I must have drawn a crowd. But the fact that I could hear them means I'm out of the water. I opened my eyes to the size of slits and I could make out Antonio leaning over me, most likely about to perform CPR.

I raised my left hand up and pushed his face away, leaving him with a confused face and still puckered lips. "Not on your life…" was all I could manage before the pain from my arm kicked back in and my eyes flew wide open.

"Aaah!" I groaned wincing as I got a look at my right wrist. It was a pretty big cut, at least six centimetres long and who knows how deep, something tells me I'll have to go to hospital to remove any fibres so it doesn't get infected.

Antonio took in a deep breath and raised the crucifix to his forehead praying again. The blood was still pumping out of the wound and I had to look away to stop myself from throwing up. "Hey, eyes on me Christina!" he said, a calmness in his voice that helped me relax.

So I kept my eyes fixed on his as he wrapped something around my arm, seaweed I think and kept a heavy pressure on it, making me wince more than once as we waited, for what I hoped would be an ambulance.

All the while we kept our eyes locked and I could see the concern in those big, green eyes of his. He never stopped looking back, except once or twice at his hands, which were covered in my blood which in turn, made me gag.

Yeah, should have mentioned earlier, not a fan of blood. I can handle just about anything, snakes, spiders, hell; I'd even go toe to toe with a tiger! But blood is my one weakness, my bad weakness; my good weakness is sugar, which I know isn't technically good for you but that doesn't matter and I KNOW I am just rambling to take my mind off the pain, but I don't think it's working very well, do you?

By the time the ambulance arrived my other arm was shaking and Antonio was trying to hold it still. I can't quite remember what happened after that, it all got a bit fuzzy but I specifically remember passing out.

So, this is the second time I have woken up in a hospital, well third if you count being born. Anyway, there is always the same groggy feeling you get when you first open your eyes in a hospital, probably from the sedatives.

It's a pleasant feeling, almost like a good night's sleep after a perfect day, only slightly rushed after you realize how long you were out. In my case, it turned out that I had been unconscious for about three hours, meaning that the sun was lower in the sky, not quite enough for the sunset to start.

Antonio was standing near the doorway talking to a doctor, I think I might have tried to say something because they both turned in unison towards me and were at the bedside in moments.

"Hey there Christina, welcome back!" Spain said cheerily whilst the doctor said nothing. "That was quite the fall you had but you're fine now, just try not to do anything strenuous with that hand eh?" that particular comment caused the doctor to chuckle and they both share a silent laugh.

I didn't get it, not in the slightest; of course it was most likely dir- Mature, real mature Antonio. I gave him a frowning sarcastic sort of face and his smile stopped. "Oh, sorry, couldn't help it, now I'm sure you'll want to get out of here and back to my place eh?" he asked calmly.

Of course I did, beats staying here, especially since my trips to hospitals are starting to frequent, maybe I should stop taking suggestions from Antonio or actually do normal stuff…Yeah right!

Without a word the two of us left, thank goodness the car was right outside, I really didn't want to walk anywhere in a bikini. Anyway the trip back was fairly boring, except the sun was now setting and the sun was setting orange ripples over the ocean with a purple above, quite the scene.

We got home, but surprisingly I wasn't tired, I think he already knew this though because when I got into my room there was a new set of pyjama pants and button up top with crescent moons dotting it, it looked a bit childish but I think they looked nice.

"I hope they're your size, otherwise you'll be rather cold, the heat is one thing, but the cold at night is another!" he exclaimed cheerily before snapping his fingers. "Also, if you're not tired I also got you a TV and DVD player, I don't really own any so the only ones there are ones from England's collection that he insists on having here."

I nodded happily and as he closed the door behind as he left I took off the swimwear, put it away in my bags and put on the pyjamas. They were really warm and snug, good luck trying to get me out of bed tomorrow Antonio!

With clothing sorted for now I took a flick through some of the films England had: Gone With The Wind, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter films one and two, Of Mice and Men, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, V for Vendetta, QUEEN Live in Canada 2002…And one other DVD that was in a transparent case that had black marker writing on it: SEYCHELLES.


	19. Chapter 19

This was interesting; blast my curiosity always getting the better of me! I suppose I shouldn't watch what's on the DVD, but I just can't help it, it's almost calling to me and besides, what's the worst that could be on it? Nothing I haven't seen before.

I took the disk out of the case and put in the player, anxiously waiting for the thing to load I began twirling the remote, flicking it in the air and catching it, getting faster and faster until I dropped it. I picked it up and realized that movie was now playing.

I have to say, it wasn't what I was expecting. It started with the evening beaches of somewhere; I think it might have been Hawaii, judging from all the Americans I could hear besides England and Seychelles.

The two were at a beach bar, obviously having a good time, kissing and hugging, drinking, maybe just a bit too much drinking. I also saw America, who was also hanging with a brunette girl in a blue bikini and was fairly tan. Also I could see Cuba, from what I could remember and possibly France, but I think that was just my imagination.

The group were having the time of their lives, doing just about anything they could think of, America almost always with his arm around the brunette. Hawaii, that was her, the brunette was Hawaii. Okay, so far so good but then as it probably would, disaster struck.

A tourist started flirting with a drunken Hawaii and things got serious when he started using his hands. Almost in an instant America was on top of the guy, throwing punches in his faces shouting stuff like: "Get your hands off my daughter!" and other fatherly wisdom.

Some of the other countries joined in on the escalating fight but Arthur quickly called Michelle over and the two made a dash for the exit. They didn't make it unscathed apparently, Seychelles took a cut to the arm and I couldn't tell where England got hit because of all the camera movement.

Anyway, as the movie continued the scene changed to suburban streets and the camera kept moving from Michelle to Arthur, who was holding the camera.

As the two made it to a building, a small place not far from the beach they had come from they went inside and Arthur took off his shirt. The two sat on the couch and just looked at each other, the camera sitting on a table, its view slightly obscured by a photograph frame.

I couldn't make out much of what they were saying now but Seychelles was yelling and sounded very, very angry. I couldn't make out any distinct words, the sound of the TV in the room distorting most of the sound.

Then she slapped Arthur, marched out and slammed the door behind her, leaving Arthur with his head in his hands on the couch sobbing. Poor guy, I wonder what happened for something like that to occur?

I guess I wasn't going to find out because when he turned the TV off he noticed the camera was still recording, walked over and threw it on the ground, smashing most of it and that was when the video stopped.

Why would England keep this if he broke the camera, to remind him of something maybe? So many questions! I need a sequel! All joking aside though, I think I should hold onto this DVD, maybe return it to England when I get the chance.

Blinking tiredly I turned off the TV, put the DVD back in its case and put it on the top of the pile and rubbed my eyes, the pyjama sleeves slightly too long so I ended up rubbing my cheeks with the soft material; had anyone been watching I don't think they would have been able to hold back a 'D'awww'

I stood up sluggishly and turned off the light, shuffling zombie style over to the bed. Climbing in I pulled the covers up to my chin and simply closed my eyes, snuggled up nice and warm, letting the powerful force of sleepiness overpower me.

That night I had a dream…Involving Kiku. The odd thing was that it started (and ended) in my room in Florence. I was wearing the pyjama's I had put on not an hour ago and Kiku lay in bed shirtless next to me.

I'm not sure if that was what his chest really looked like, it wasn't muscly, but you could definitely tell he worked out. I opened my mouth to speak, to ask why I was here and why this was happening but all he did was put a finger to his lips, smiling slightly and all my intentions of speaking vanished.

His finger moved from his lips to mine and I could feel the warmth of his skin as he traced my lips. Kiku wrapped his legs around mine, his toes twitching slightly as he nervously smiled. He draped his arms around the back of my neck and all I could do was look at him with my mouth slightly open.

I tried to say something, anything to make the situation perfect. But nothing came, I literally could not utter a syllable even though my mouth was open and Kiku was starting to look concerned. I tried to smile, to make him feel better, but while my mouth worked my eyes betrayed me, telling him more than I wanted him to know.

He shut his eyes for a moment, but what seemed like a moment felt like minutes and I could not take it any longer. I leaned forward, slowly moving towards him and he did the same.

I didn't close mine as we drew closer, I didn't want to, just in case I woke up, something I never want to happen right now. But as we loomed even closer, mere centimetres away I gave into my body and closed my eyes, closing the gap between us and landing on the cold stone floor with a slap.

"Dammit!" I whispered as I bashed the floor with my balled fist, standing up and climbing back into bed. _That settles it_ I thought to myself (At least I'm not talking to myself, first sign of madness!) _When I get back to Italy I am asking Kiku out and that is it!_

When sleep took me again I didn't have any more dreams, probably because I was listening to music on my phone. I got some headphones on the way back to Antonio's (Sorry if I forgot to mention it!) and I only had few songs on it.

One of these songs I was completely hooked on, I loved this music and I would have to get more: Yourenigma: Tavi and Scratch, The Things We Do For Wub.


End file.
